


Flickering Candles: A RWBY Fanfiction

by Starlightwolves6



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different Lore, Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Beacon Academy, Brainwashing, Cannibalistic Assholes Named Pixie, Chaos, Cults, Cute, Discrimination, Drama, Eventual Romance, Family, Fighting, Fluff, Fox Girl, Friendship, Kawaii, Magic, Murder, My First Fanwork, No cat girls, Oh wait, Original Character(s), RWBY - Freeform, Romance, Seriously She’s an Asshole, Swearing, Weapons, beans and bears, bear faunus, cute little badasses, faunus, fox faunus, it was amnesia, lizard faunus, long story, midgets, precious beans, probable gays, real smoll gorls, shit what was that word
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21528457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlightwolves6/pseuds/Starlightwolves6
Summary: A young girl is sent on a mission to infiltrate Beacon Academy, a prestigious school training the future protectors of Remnant. However, when she gets there she finds that the strings tying her to her past are slowly snapping, placing freedom in her lap. The question now is, does she have the strength to take it?This is a WIP! So some things in previous chapters may change. Until the last chapter is posted, if you notice something is a bit different, maybe a paragraph is longer or a phrase was cut, that's why. I will try not to do anything major!One last thing... this story has very little ties to the canonical story told in the show. Most of the main cast DOES NOT EXIST and a lot of the lore/worldbuilding is different so please go in with FRESH EYES. Thank you! I have changed a lot, so other than there being a struggle between Ozpin and Salem, the other stuff isn't really there. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the story! Love you guys ^-^Cross Posted on Wattpad as well!
Comments: 18
Kudos: 37





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna include my Twitter because I'll be posting updates on here on the story's progression, and whenever new chapters are posted.  
> https://twitter.com/starlightwo1ves 
> 
> And.... since this fanfiction is based on an rp, I have gotten permission to use a few people’s characters. The scenes in this book and the actions of these characters are written by me. However, they still deserve credit for these great concepts and all the amazing work in helping me develop ideas in the rp and just because they are all wonderful people! I love them dearly, so please check out any social media listed and go support them and check them out. 
> 
> Iceical Skater  
> Instagram: iceical_skater  
> Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/dark-funnies/list?title_no=79960&page=1  
> Characters: Vira and Narcissa
> 
> Aiden  
> Youtube:https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxQTaomdKn-2gI_uGFEcb6w  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/HiImAiden4  
> Characters: Randy
> 
> Average  
> Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Average11  
> Characters: Gabriel
> 
> Enoan  
> Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjV87PVdONMrvfNf5ZqfvA  
> Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/en0an  
> Characters: Clover and later Bleken
> 
> Josie! She’s my girlfriend, I love her like, a lot, so go check her out because she’s amazing and does super cool art ^^ Her character, Qus, and his team, won’t be in the story for much longer, but watch out for him! Her social media coming soon.  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/jorsebean?s=09  
> Instagram: TallestLister

“So, you want to be a huntress?” 

Mayumi glances up, her dark eyes staring back at the steady gaze of the man sitting across from her. He pushes a teacup towards her, offering an easy smile. A single light hangs above their heads, casting heavy shadows across his thin face. In this lighting, the tired canyons and valleys that had settled across his countenance stand out. Mayumi would normally feel sorry for him, if sitting at this very table hadn’t been the cause of so much stress. 

In order to calm her nerves, she reminds herself of the care she had taken to prepare for this moment, and of how ready she is. Ivan’s words rang in her ears. 

_ So long as you look the part, playing it will be that much easier.  _

Before the interview, she had pulled her dark hair into a ponytail, no strand out of place. Special care had been given to the long, bushy tail that now twitches uneasily behind her, the brown fur that covered it groomed just for the interview. That morning, Pixie had helped Mayumi ensure that her outfit was on straight and without any unnecessary creases. That hadn’t stopped Mayumi from fidgeting and adjusting the cropped jacket and shorts that made up her battle gear right up until she sat down for the interview. She had hoped to wear something to cover up the criss-crossing scars that decorated her skin, but she didn’t have anything better. Now her scars were the last thing on her mind; it was too preoccupied with Ozpin’s question. 

“Yes. Yes, I do. I would like to help people,” she rests her hands in her lap, breathing a sigh of relief. For a moment, she feels transparent, as if each lie, each act of this play she was about to perform, was going to be exposed. She felt as if right then and there she would fumble and disappoint Ivan, Pixie, everyone she’s ever known! Chaos is resting on this little interview, and that weight sits heavy on her shoulders. But in that simple answer, the tension drains from her muscles and she flashes him a sweet smile. 

“What a noble desire for someone so young,” the man responds warmly, and without skipping a beat he continues: “It says here that you don’t seem to have any official transcripts from any other academies. Yet you didn’t have any issues getting into  _ my _ academy. In fact, you passed the entrance exam with a higher score than those who undertook the rigorous training that’s usually needed.” 

Mayumi pauses, staring down at the steam rolling off the tea. She starts slowly, carefully, with a voice full of caution.

“Well…ah, I grew up as a traveler. We, uh, me and my friends, well, more like family…um, we encountered Grimm everywhere. We had to learn how to fight well, otherwise we wouldn’t have made it this far.” 

“Hmmm, I see. Where are you from again, Miss Nise? Where are your family? They must be proud of your accomplishments,”

“I’m from Mistral, my mother and father were killed...a long time ago.”

“I am very sorry to hear that, can you tell me what happened to them?” He leans forward with interest, raising a brow. Mayumi’s smile falters as she reaches for something foggy, her eyes glossed as she struggles with the memory. 

“Ah, Grimm attack on our village. My friend Pixie - she came here with me - she took me from the village after it happened. Please, don’t feel pity for me, it happened when I was very young. I…I can barely remember it,” she says with forced cheeriness, hoping to change the subject to anything else. Even if she couldn’t remember her mother, or what had killed her, the subject was always one that struck the core of her heart. Whenever she tries to grasp at what had happened, it’s as if she’s spiralling into a dark hole filled with toxic gas, leaving her blinded and her skin burning. 

Her words fall flat and the two of them dip into static silence. That awful pause is enough to make the air thick and Mayumi jittery. She stares down at her hands, which busy themselves with the hem of her shorts. 

“Miss Nise, how did you get that brand on your stomach? It’s quite different from your other scars,” he asks. Mayumi’s mouth goes dry. As rehearsed as her response was, the truth behind the butterfly brand burns in her mind even as she spoke. Of all her scars, the bite marks of her arms and the lashes down her back, that brand held the most weight.

“The people of my village branded faunus. I-I’m sure that, as a professor, you know that still happens in Mistral.” Her voice is winded as she fights to calm her desperate lungs. 

“I am sorry to hear that. I only have a few more questions, we’re almost done,” he assures her in a kinder tone, noting her distress. “Mayumi, who are you?” he asks seriously, resting his elbows on the table, fingers interlocked. 

She looks up in surprise. She wasn’t expecting this sort of question. Her paperwork should state enough: she was Mayumi Nise, a sixteen year old girl, hoping to get into a prestigious huntsmen academy a year early. 

“I’m Mayumi...I-I don’t understand, you should already know that.” 

“No, no. That’s your name. I’m asking  _ who you are _ ?”

“I- um, uh…well, that’s… I don’t…” 

She stumbles over her words for a moment, only to be swiftly cut off by Ozpin. He starts speaking without skipping a beat, moving smoothly as if Mayumi hadn’t even attempted an answer.

“Mayumi, have you ever killed anyone?”

She stares at him, eyes glittering as she feels his gaze scorch through her. His expression is relaxed, but within the depths of his brown eyes, she sees something sharp. Her tongue and inner cheeks go dry. She bites her lip, mustering her courage to meet the knife’s edge that was his stare and defy it. 

“No, Ozpin. I have not killed anyone.” Mayumi has to force her eyes to stay locked on Ozpin’s. 

Ozpin chuckles, tension draining from the room as he leans back. Mayumi’s tense chest deflates and she gives a tight smile. Ozpin extends his hand and she takes it, shaking it firmly just like she was taught to. His next words ring in her ears, hovering in the air around her until they become almost physical. As they settle in with her, she’s finally able to truly smile.

“Welcome to Beacon Academy, Mayumi Nise. I hope by the end we both will figure out who exactly you are.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna include my Twitter because I'll be posting updates on here on the story's progression, and whenever new chapters are posted.  
> https://twitter.com/starlightwo1ves 
> 
> And.... since this fanfiction is based on an rp, I have gotten permission to use a few people’s characters. The scenes in this book and the actions of these characters are written by me. However, they still deserve credit for these great concepts and all the amazing work in helping me develop ideas in the rp and just because they are all wonderful people! I love them dearly, so please check out any social media listed and go support them and check them out. 
> 
> Iceical Skater  
> Instagram: iceical_skater  
> Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/dark-funnies/list?title_no=79960&page=1  
> Characters: Vira and Narcissa
> 
> Aiden  
> Youtube:https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxQTaomdKn-2gI_uGFEcb6w  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/HiImAiden4  
> Characters: Randy
> 
> Average  
> Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Average11  
> Characters: Gabriel
> 
> Enoan  
> Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjV87PVdONMrvfNf5ZqfvA  
> Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/en0an  
> Characters: Clover and later Bleken
> 
> Josie! She’s my girlfriend, I love her like, a lot, so go check her out because she’s amazing and does super cool art ^^ Her character, Qus, and his team, won’t be in the story for much longer, but watch out for him! Her social media coming soon.  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/jorsebean?s=09  
> Instagram: TallestLister

“Wakey wakey! Eggs n’ bakey!” 

Mayumi’s eyes blink open to the singsong, twittering voice that was all too familiar to her tired ears. A pair of bright, obnoxiously blue eyes gleam down at her, red lips peeled into a ridiculous grin. The slender woman’s face is encased within a storm of pink hair, delicately kept and flowing over her narrow shoulders and falling like a waterfall over her chest.

“Good morning Pixie…there’s no eggs…or bakey,” Mayumi mumbles, sitting up from her makeshift cot. She has been sleeping in this small two-room cabin for the last couple days as the group awaited the airships. A friendly farming couple had rented it out to them, to which even Pixie was grateful. 

Pixie reaches for Mayumi’s arm with exuberance, eyes shining with pleasure as she yanks the young girl out of bed. Mayumi blinks. Well… here they go again. She should have been more prepared for such a rude awakening: Beacon had been all Pixie had been talking about for weeks. Her excitement is almost contagious; to Mayumi it feels like a disease. She tries to allow the excitement to woo her, but the teeth of anxiety stay sunken deep into her neck. If all goes well, this trip will be a refreshing break from the usual, messy, missions Ivan gave to them, but there was always the chance they were found out. Once they were, she didn’t want to think about what would happen.

“Gooooood mornin’! C’mon Mayumi, it’s our first, real-life, exciting and amazing day at Beacon! Oh, aren’t you just crawling with excitement?”

“Oh, I’m crawling with something,” Mayumi responds tightly. Pixie leans forward, taking Mayumi’s face in her hands. Her fingers are warm. Mayumi’s cheeks flush at Pixie’s touch and she averts her eyes, fiddling with the hem of her uniform’s skirt. Her heart flickers and wakes like a dying flame after a breath of oxygen. There’s some sort of safety in Pixie’s warm touch, and something terrifying as well. Like a campfire surrounded by dry grass.

“Oh, sweetheart, we’re gonna be just fine. You worry too much, darlin’,” Pixie coos, her voice thick and sweet like warm honey. “See, all we gotta do is get in there, attend classes for about a year, and then we go to Ivan during the summer and see if we got what he needs. All we’re doing is getting info, like scouts! It’ll be easy, sweetheart.  _ Easy _ . You don’t even have to do any of the hard stuff.” 

Mayumi takes a deep breath, flashing Pixie a smile as she buries her inconvenient misgivings. 

“Yeah…yeah! Ok, I can do this,” Mayumi says, looking up at Pixie with a look of soft apprehension. Her cheeks flush as Pixie leans over her, warm breath smelling of sickness and sugar. She holds back a cough. Pixie always says it’s an acquired taste, but despite all the time they had spent together the last couple years, she still hasn’t acquired it.

“Of course you can, let’s go now sweetheart,” Pixie says. A huff echoes from behind them and another woman, tall and lean with hair like wine, approaches through the doorway. Green blades, cool as ice, stare out from her face. 

“This isn’t a game, Pixie,” she says shortly.

Pixie quivers with giggles. “Oh, c’mon Narcissa! It’s funny, just like a game.”

“What exactly is so funny? Whatever... I’m not getting into this now. Vira! Are you ready?” She calls, sending her sharp eyes over her shoulder. Mayumi’s gaze follows Narcissa and lands on Vira’s petite form. Her freckled face peers out from a mane of black. Soft, grey eyes flash with a smile. She nods.

“Of course Narcissa, all packed and ready,” she says with all the bravery of a mouse. Mayumi waves and Vira responds with a small wave before clinging to Narcissa. Narcissa drapes an arm over the small girl, fingers twirling in Vira’s hair.

“Good. Let’s head out,” Narcissa says sternly. Pixie giggles, waving her arms in eccentric gestures.

“Of course! Of course, I’ve been waiting for you to say that for  _ ages _ Narcissa!” 

With that, Pixie flings open the door of the cabin, sending cascades of sunlight into the room in which they had been sleeping. Pixie steps into the morning’s warmth. A grin peels across her face and she spreads her arms up to the sun. 

“Let’s get this show on the road!” she squeals.

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

Pixie’s boots, clicking against the pavement, ring in Mayumi’s ear as they approach the yawning mouth of the airship. Mayumi’s holding Pixie’s hand, looking around with wide eyes. All around her she sees students meandering towards the entrance. Some are gathered in groups like her, Pixie, Narcissa, and Vira. Some, however, are alone. She hears laughter, a buzz in the air caused by all the anxious joy. She wonders how many people’s lives are about to change, how many dreams are coming true around her.

“Oh, Mayumi! I can smell all the desolate souls here! All of the tasty little children scampering around! Oh, I can taste them alre-!”  
“Pixie, what did we talk about? The game we are playing is one of stealth and tact. Why Ivan even sent you is beyond me. Just, can you last more than ten minutes?” Narcissa hisses to Pixie. 

Vira and Mayumi exchange glances. The two are a buffer between the two taller women, fingers linked as similar thoughts race through their heads. They don’t even have to speak, just a nervous smile and a shy glance is enough to pass along the message.

_ This is going to be a long year. _

The two women immediately stop their bickering, however, as they enter the airship. 

“Let’s find seats. You two: stay close until we get settled in. Pixie, stay closer.”

“Narcissa, this is a school, not a battlefield. You’re too strict! And no fun!”

“You just want to get alone with one of the students.”

“And so what if I do? Not like anything…terrible would happen,” Pixie says with wide, flaming eyes, her body quivering with giggles.

“Nope. Absolutely not. You’re staying with me.” Narcissa mutters, rolling her eyes as she snatches Pixie’s arm. She’s about to usher them to the nearest empty row of seats when Mayumi raises her hand and clears her throat. Being alone for just a little bit would be nice, and she had an idea. 

“Whaddya want Mayumi?” Pixie says, casting a blue gaze, as sharp as nails, towards her. 

Mayumi stares down at her feet. “I have to go use the restroom, can I go if Vira comes with?”

“Oh, if I have to stay here so do you-”  
“Yes, but be quick about it.” Narcissa cuts in, waving them on. She glares at Pixie, whispering harsh words Mayumi just barely picks up on.

“They can go, they aren’t going to eat anybody!” 

With that, the two young girls are freed. Clutching each other’s hands, they send one last glance back at their guardians before starting into the throng of people towards the bathroom. Pungent smells waft through the air: soda, cheap snacks, and the stench of nervous perspiration all reaching Mayumi’s keen nose. Mayumi pushes their way through the other first year students, and as they weave through, they weave right into a boy playing on his scroll, staring down at the flashing screen. 

He stumbles, plummeting backward only to be saved by Mayumi snatching his wrist. 

“Oh no! Are you all right?” Vira hurries towards him, her speech as quick as her actions. Mayumi hoists him upright. He nods his head, dazed. He collapses his scroll and tucks it into his pocket.

As she pulls him up, she’s finally able to get a good look at him. His head is a sea of fiery hair, dark blue eyes staring out from a face that’s young in appearance, fresh as a daisy. She finds everything else about him to be rather average. A simple sweatshirt and jeans cling to a form that’s completely ordinary for huntsmen in training: not especially bulky, but far from thin. His weapon, she sees, is held in a scabbard across his back; a sword, most likely.

“You really ought to watch where you’re going,” Mayumi says, releasing him. He stares in quiet astonishment at the two of them, but quickly flashes an easy-going smile. 

“Yeah, I guess. I was just about to beat my high score. I, uh, guess I was too focused on that. Sorry,” he replies quickly. Mayumi stares, confused. And that was more important than walking? Well, if it was to him surely she couldn’t be mad.

“All is forgiven! It’s ok! Uh, oh dear, I don’t know your name,” Mayumi says, subconsciously tightening her protective grip on Vira’s wrist.

“I’m Randy! You can call me, uh, Randy!” he replies, his tone kind enough.

“Well, I’m Mayumi and this is Vira.”

“Neat,” he says shortly, eyes trailing to the fluff of a tail curling around Mayumi’s leg. “I’ve never met a faunus with that big of a tail before. What, are you a wolf?”

Mayumi flushes and she stares down at her feet. 

“I’m actually a fox  _ faunus _ ,” she says, crossing her arms as her defenses flare in preparation for the nasty, bile-filled words she expects to come sputtering from her would-be acquaintance. His next words, though, are filled with a genuine politeness that shocks her.

“Oh, uh, sorry...faunus is what I meant. I’m sorry, that was rude of me,” he says, peering forward to take a closer look at her tail. Mayumi pulls it away reflexively.

“You’re fine,” Mayumi replies shortly. The weight of Vira’s hand on her shoulder causes her to relax, and she turns to excuse the boy’s misguided behavior. Before she can, she hears Narcissa calling the two’s names and glances over at Vira. The two nod.

“We have to go, uh, sorry Randy. I’m sure we’ll see you around campus!” Vira says cheerfully, tugging at Mayumi’s wrist. Mayumi sighs, nodding in agreement. There was no holding out on Pixie and Narcissa, not if you wanted to keep your limbs intact. Her bladder would have to wait. 

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

Mayumi faces down at her hands with her eyes squeezed shut to avoid any sneak peaks at the campus. She wants to save her first look for the ground, as strange as that may be, she doesn’t want to just see a glimpse. Some hazy, out-of-the-corner-of-her-eye, happenchance that would diminish the awe when she first saw it. She figures it must be much bigger and much more exciting than Signal, where she had gone for the interviews, so she wants her first look to capture all of that grandness. She feels Vira tap her shoulder. That was it! The signal they had arrived. Mayumi’s stomach somersaults and she slowly opens one of her eyes.

“Are we landed?”

“Yup! It’s safe to open your eyes. We’ll be leaving the airship soon.” Vira whispers back to Mayumi. Mayumi slowly blinks open her eyes and glances around. People are rising from their seats, grabbing their bags and weapons, adjusting their clothing so that they look sharp for their future professors. Mayumi follows suit, adjusting her school-issued skirt and grabbing her bag, hoisting it over her shoulder. She pats the hilts of her swords, nodding to affirm to herself of their presence. 

“You children r-?” Narcissa begins to ask. Pixie swoons, flashing a hand over Narcissa’s mouth with all the exuberance of an overly dramatic swan.

“No! No! Narcissa,  _ I  _ want to say it!” Pixie cries. She drapes herself over Narcissa, patting the woman’s pale cheek in a playfully teasing way, eyes gleaming like the round moons of a mischievous cat’s gaze. Narcissa shoves Pixie off, rolling her eyes.

“Fine.You can say it.”

Pixie giggles, skipping towards the lowering walkway from the airship.

“Are… you… children... READY?!” she cries. She spins, her pale arms catching the light from the sun’s shy rays.

Mayumi bounces on the balls of her feet with impatience. Apprehension twists her stomach into knots. Right on the other side of the airship doors was the beginning of her next mission: Beacon Academy, and all its secrets. 

Sunlight seeps through the opening and washes over Mayumi’s pale face. She squints as her eyes adjust to the natural light, shielding her face with her hands. She follows briskly behind Pixie, who is rushing forwards with a glimmer of delight in her eyes. Mayumi wraps her fingers around Vira’s hand, squeezing it tightly to brace herself for her future. Snapping her eyes shut, her nervousness keeps her from being able to look quite yet.

“Oh my…” Vira’s small voice whispers. Vira’s fingers give Mayumi’s hand a tight squeeze and she forces herself to open her eyes. 

Before her, she sees millions of all of the most glorious miracles that could ever have existed. She sees the miracle of Beacon Tower, the grand arching architecture, the sharp towers clawing at the sky. She sees hope in the water splashing under the walkway, dancing in the pale blue tongues of water licking at the bridge that stretches for eons. The green of the trees, the blue of the sky, the stark splashes of color pressing gently over the cool, gray stone of the walls all give her a feeling of beautiful chance. It is a castle, a fortress, even. More students are starting to leave the airships and they breathe life into the walkways weaving around the school. In this breath of life, she felt Ozpin’s words ringing in her ears:  _ “Welcome to Beacon Academy, Mayumi Nise, I hope by the end we both will figure out who exactly you are.”  _

With that, she feels a sharp pang of unease and forces herself to stare at the ground instead.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since this fanfiction is based on an rp, I have gotten permission to use a few people’s characters. The scenes in this book and the actions of these characters are written by me. However, they still deserve credit for these great concepts and all the amazing work in helping me develop ideas in the rp and just because they are all wonderful people! I love them dearly, so please check out any social media listed and go support them and check them out. 
> 
> Iciecal Skater  
> Instagram: iciecal_skater  
> Characters: Vira and Narcissa
> 
> Aiden  
> Youtube:https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxQTaomdKn-2gI_uGFEcb6w  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/HiImAiden4  
> Randy
> 
> Average  
> Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Average11  
> Gabriel
> 
> Enoan  
> Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjV87PVdONMrvfNf5ZqfvA  
> Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/en0an  
> Clover
> 
> Josie! She’s my girlfriend, I love her like, a lot, so go check her out because she’s amazing and does super cool art ^^ Her character, Qus, and his team, won’t be in the story for much longer, but watch out for him! Her social media coming soon.  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/jorsebean?s=09  
> Instagram: TallestLister

“I stand before all of you blooming young students to warmly welcome you into our prestigious Beacon Academy.”

Empty words fall into Mayumi’s lap as she stands in the crowd, listening to both Ozpin’s voice and the excitable breath of the students standing stock-still around her. She can’t help but feel that these words were impersonal at best, and off-putting at worst. His eyes stare blankly across the room, seeming to skim over the heads of the people so intently tuning in. It was as if she was listening to a sermon being given by a nonbeliever, every single word falling flat and hanging for an unusually long time in the air.

“Every one of you came here with a purpose, some sort of internal force that has pushed you towards this place. Whether you wanted to become a huntsman for the excitement and glory or for the simpler fulfillment in helping others, you are brave, and surely talented, to have come this far. This school will provide you with the tools to help you accomplish your goals. I hope my fellow professors and I will be able to guide you to all become respectable huntsmen. Thank you.” 

Ozpin sighs heavily, nodding to the assembled students. A glint of light flashes over his glasses as he turns on his heels, whisking himself off of the stage. Mayumi stares, her attention lingering on where he stood. It feels as if a ghost had been floating there, dead words echoing in the stale air. The words, like the speaker, lack the substance and emotion that breathed life into speech. His words are ghost just like him: A mere shell of the man who had interviewed her. It made her shiver, just the thought of it.

“You doin’ ok Yu-Yu?” Pixie’s lush voice bleeds over her shoulder. Her warm fingers squeeze Mayumi’s arm, her chest pressing against Mayumi’s shoulders blades. She giggles, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Just think: we could be huntresses if Ivan lets us stay here long enough, not like  _ I  _ need the training, you on the other hand…” she giggles again, squeezing Mayumi tightly. “Pay attention in class,” she teases.

Mayumi blushes, her skin crawling with embarrassment.

“O-of course Pixie,” she stutters, twiddling her thumbs. Pixie laughs as a woman enters the stage.

“Hello students, I am Glynda Goodwitch. Please, all of you head to the cafeteria. We have cots set up for you for the night, now I suggest all of you take this night not only to rest, but to become acquainted with each other and the school. You will be dismissed in groups. Section 1A, please follow Professor Port. Section 1B please follow Professor…” she calls, though Mayumi stops paying attention soon after she begins listing instructions. She glances over at Pixie and Narcissa, who are both watching the blonde woman on stage intently. She must have called their section, because Pixie grasps Mayumi’s wrist and starts pulling her across the room, weaving through the students they had been standing with. 

After a few turns through the halls and a brisk walk between buildings, the group enters what Mayumi presumes to be the cafeteria. The man who had been leading them holds the door open and gestures inside.

“I am Professor Dimitri, I teach Dust Use and Augmentation…” he starts, though his words slip through her attention like sand through fingers. Instead of listening, she was squirming away from Pixie’s grasp. Her arm hurt, and she finally saw a chance for true, if momentary, freedom. She finally escapes and reaches for Vira, pulling her away from Narcissa. The woman takes quick notice and sends a sharp glare slicing straight through Mayumi.

“Where are you going?” 

“Uh… exploring? Like the professor said.” Mayumi responds timidly to her harsh words. Narcissa stands with a hand on her hip, glaring down at Mayumi like a serpent. She swallows, holding herself with stiff muscles as she awaits some sort of punishment. Thankfully, Pixie is leaning against the wall near the young professor that had been their guide, already batting her eyelashes and murmuring softly to him with a sultry expression painted across her slender face. Narcissa sends a tired look over at her unruly partner, pressing her palm against her forehead. Mayumi can barely contain her relief, or her excitement, and a grin escapes.

“Fine, go. Explore. I’ve gotta deal with Pixie...but don’t get into trouble. Remember why we’re here, and make sure you find us in a couple of hours or I’ll have your neck. Are we understood?”

Mayumi silently nods, wiping the smile from her lips as she starts to back away.

“Excuse me, I asked a question I expect you to have the decency to answer me,” she snaps. Her voice was so harsh Mayumi half expected her to start snarling like a maddened wolf. Thankfully, she does not and Mayumi quickly nods.

“Y-yes ma’am, we are understood.” She says apprehensively. She turns before Narcissa can change her mind, hurrying away with Vira trailing behind. She couldn’t help but feel Narcissa’s eyes on the back of her neck. The crawling feeling spurred her to quicken her pace just to escape that burning stare.

After they had escaped Narcissa’s line of sight, Mayumi notices Vira has slowed down significantly and her eyes are glued on a boy who could easily be mistaken for a giant. He’s leaning against a wall, and by the looks of it he needs that wall to support his broad frame. His huge hands are wrapped around a lunch box, narrowed eyes intently inspecting it’s contents. Long hair falls down to frame a sharp jawline, which are set in an expression of intense concentration. 

“Vira…?” Mayumi asks, following Vira’s eyes to the bear faunus she was so intently staring at. He’s none the wiser to their stare, tiny ears flickering as he begins to enjoy the contents of his lunch.

“He’s so  _ big _ … I have something very important to ask him.” Vira says, pulling away from Mayumi’s grip to walk towards the boy, head held high with determination. Mayumi panics, stumbling as she gathers herself to dash after her companion.

“Vira! Wait! He could be dangerous, wait for me!” she calls. Her tail is a furry streak behind her as she scampers, quickly taking Vira’s hand once more. The boy seems oblivious to their approach until they are right in front of him, Vira’s wide eyes staring up at him with awe.

“What’s your name?” Vira asks in the mystical voice of a gypsy, lost in fields of naivety. 

He hesitates, watching them with caution. “Cerna,” he responds gruffly, taking a bite of an apple he had been gnawing on.

“Cerna… hmm…you’re so big; what’s it like to be so tall?”

Mid-chew, the boy smashes the apple in his grip and coughs, choking on the bite in his mouth. He stutters for a moment, hacking up the apple in his throat before he can speak.

“W-what did you just ask me?” he asks, face flushing. 

“What’s it like to be so tall? Can you show me?” Vira asks with childish innocence, tilting her head. “I’m sorry… I have a soft voice. I’ll be louder,” she promises brightly, giving a tiny smile. Mayumi squeezes Vira’s hand, watching Cerna with caution. 

“No! No, you’re fine. W-what do you mean? Like, carry you…?” Cerna ventures. Vira nods enthusiastically.  
“Can I know your name first?” he asks.

“It’s Vira. Oh! And this is Mayumi,” Vira says, gesturing to her. Mayumi gives a small wave, staring blankly onwards, unimpressed with this boy whose shoulders Vira was about to mount. Well, attempt to mount, and an attempt was as far as Mayumi was about to let this endeavor go!

“Nice to meet your friend, she… she seems…nice.” Cerna says, sneaking a glance. 

“Oh, she sure is! Now that we all know each other, I’d like to be tall now,” she says, giggling as if she just made a joke. Cerna crouches down, gesturing to his shoulders, his eyes quite serious. Vira’s eyes widen. 

“Oh my goodness, you’re actually-” she starts, only to be cut off by a flash of silver as Mayumi draws a sword between the two. Cerna backs away and pulls his fists up to his chest. Slowly, after realizing the sword is merely a barrier and not a threat, he calms.

“Vira! Careful!” Mayumi says, her fingers quivering. Her heart pounds in her chest as she sizes up the boy. Surely this  _ giant  _ was just preparing some sort of trap to lure Vira closer to those huge hands of his. Vira blushes, reaching out and taking Mayumi’s hand, her touch tender and the skin of her fingers soothingly soft. She gently pushes it, and the sword, away. Mayumi stares at her with confusion. Cerna was clearly a threat, a very large threat!

“Mayumi… uh, I think you should go get some fresh air. Ok? I’m ok, he’s not gonna hurt me. Besides, Narcissa is here, so I’m totally safe. Ok?”

Mayumi frowns, then flushes with embarrassment and sheaths her weapon.   
“Are you absolutely sure?” Mayumi starts, face reddening and cheeks puffed as she holds in sharper words. Vira nods, steadily meeting Mayumi’s gaze.

“Absolutely. Now, you go and get some fresh air before I shove you out to get some!”

“Ok…. But, call me if you’re in danger! Got it?”

Vira smiles sweetly, nodding with a burst of confidence. “Of course! Go get some fresh air, gogogo!” 

Mayumi hesitates, but Vira’s small hands pushing her away spurs her to walk off on her own. She glances around, looking for a door to lead her outside. One catches her eye, though the modern architecture didn’t quite mesh with the rest of the school’s castle-like design. She narrows her eyes, approaching to examine the door. She runs her fingers over the polished dark wood, her fingers resting on the smooth, cool surface. Her hands find their way to the delicately curved handle, and for a moment they hesitate before twisting. She pushes the door open and steps inside, coming face-to-face with an unhappy resident.

“Excuse me?” 

A pair of pine green eyes stare out from an angled face, messy hair wavering every which way on his head. He’s tall. Much taller than Mayumi, and she has to crane her neck to look up at him. She supposes it doesn’t help that she’s so much shorter than the average person, but he’s quite a bit taller than the average person as well. And he’s wearing a coat! It hangs loosely over a broad, clearly muscular form. She finds the coat to be the most unusual thing about him. It’s summer’s end, and she feels a deep heat from within the room. Surely a coat is unnecessary, but here’s this stranger with one pulled around him. 

She takes a step inside what looks like a small but furnished dining room, despite the mild protests from the boy in the doorway. He isn’t standing in her way, so surely he couldn’t want to keep her out that bad. The warmth of the room rolls over her. Like a hot towel in a Mistralian spa, she found the heat and weight of the air soothing. She lets the air seep into her pores, allowing her to release a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. For a moment she reveles in the heat and the softness of the air, the thickness of it.

“Where did the outside go?” she asks, glancing around with a curious gaze, “Is this part of the cafeteria, too?” She couldn’t fathom why there would be a small dining room sticking off of the side of the cafeteria, nor could she recall seeing a piece of building sticking out from the outside.

“Uhh… no this isn’t part of the cafeteria, and I don’t work here. This is just my house.”

“Your… house? Why is it here?”

“I can take it with me.”

She stares in silence. The idea of someone taking their house with them isn't abnormal, but the door had appeared to be built into the walls of the school. The only explanation must be a semblance, but she can’t understand how it worked. She submerses herself in thought, twiddling her thumbs as she mulls over the possibilities. After a moment, she looks up, eyes wide as an idea strikes her.

“Is your semblance teleporting your house?” she asks. He laughs, shaking his head. 

“No, I don’t teleport my house. It’s a pocket dimension.”

“Pocket dimension?”

“Yeah, like a tiny dimension.”

“Oh… tiny dimension… yeah makes… makes perfect sense.” she mumbles, voice trailing off. She stands in the doorway in silence, unsure of what to do with herself. The lull in the conversation is a suffocating embarrassment but she can’t clear her head enough to form the words to breach it, not when her thoughts were so choked with thoughts of teleporting pocket dimensions. Thankfully, the boy is able to.

“What’s your name?” he asks stiffly, sliding into a seat at the table. “I’m Clover, by the way.”

“I’m Mayumi.” she says in an airy voice, her mind still floating among the clouds of his semblance and the pocket dimension, little flowers doting the walls instead of whatever the glowing white flashes of light are. Without concentrating on what she's saying, she starts to mumble. “Clover is a pretty name, it’s like a flower, isn’t it?” she asks on the exhalation of an even breath. She rests her chin on her hand, staring past Clover at the stary green walls of the pocket house. “I like clovers,” she states softly. 

“Huh, what was that?” he asks, leaning forward to hear her better. She shakes her head, forcing the present onto herself. She smiles sweetly, placing her hands in her lap.

“Oh! Oh, uh, nothing,” she replies. She hears heavy footsteps approaching and twists, wide eyes watching the door. Clover watches her with a cocked brow, but the steps get closer and louder he inevitably hears them as well. Both stare with stiff nervousness, each heart racing faster and faster until finally… the door swings open and a student with a mess of dark hair bursts in. 

He’s donning a tracksuit, though he really must not care for it very well because one of the sleeves is ripped clean off, strands of fabric brushing the fair skin of his shoulder. Though, perhaps it was on purpose to show off the pretty blue designs on his arm. Running beneath his skin, geometric designs that looked like the veins of a robot decorated his arm, though he didn’t smell like a robot. Either way, they were quite pretty so perhaps he was just so proud of them he didn’t want to cover them up. She knew she would show off if she had a colorful arm like that. 

He glances around, face flushing a bright red with embarrassment. By his posture, dancing feet, and desperate gaze Mayumi can guess that he’s not where he wants to be, his next words only confirming what she already knew he was desperately searching for.

“This… this isn’t the bathroom!” he yelps sharply, eyes flying open wide with shock as his the blush of his face deepens. Clover presses his palm against his forehead, shaking his head.

“I really need to lock the doors…” 

“Oh goodness, uh, no it’s Clover’s pocket dimension.” Mayumi offers with a nervous smile.

“Wait, what?”

“Pocket- you know what, just come through here and use the bathroom and I can explain after. You’re going to piss yourself,” he says, placing a hand on the dark-haired boy’s back. “Before you use my toilet, what’s your name?”

“G-Gabriel,” the boy stutters, his brows furrowing as he stumbles after Clover, trying to attempt to retain a shred of seriousness. Mayumi watches the back of his head, crossing her arms. This seemed like quite enough excitement for the night, so just as the boys disappear from her sight down a ladder, she turns on her heels and out the door. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since this fanfiction is based on an rp, I have gotten permission to use a few people’s characters. The scenes in this book and the actions of these characters are written by me. However, they still deserve credit for these great concepts and all the amazing work in helping me develop ideas in the rp and just because they are all wonderful people! I love them dearly, so please check out any social media listed and go support them and check them out. 
> 
> Iciecal Skater  
> Instagram: iciecal_skater  
> Characters: Vira and Narcissa
> 
> Aiden  
> Youtube:https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxQTaomdKn-2gI_uGFEcb6w  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/HiImAiden4  
> Randy
> 
> Average  
> Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Average11  
> Gabriel
> 
> Enoan  
> Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjV87PVdONMrvfNf5ZqfvA  
> Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/en0an  
> Clover
> 
> Josie! She’s my girlfriend, I love her like, a lot, so go check her out because she’s amazing and does super cool art ^^ Her character, Qus, and his team, won’t be in the story for much longer, but watch out for him! Her social media coming soon.  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/jorsebean?s=09  
> Instagram: TallestLister

Mayumi slides the handle of her locker and swings it open, only to have it slammed shut again. 

“Are you ready for today Mayumi?” Pixie whispers down her neck, bearing down from behind. Pixie’s fingers dig against the metal, planting her arms like sprouting trees on either side of Mayumi, decorated with the pink blossoms of her hair. Pixie’s vibrant gaze is searing the back of her neck and Mayumi can almost taste that smile sharp on her tongue.

“Of course, Pixie,” Mayumi says, calmly reopening her locker. Pixie hops back, giggling and clapping her hands, eyes aflame with childishness. Mayumi pulls out her swords and sheaths them at her hip, patting the hilt and trying to retain a sense of seriousness. With a glance at Pixie, however, she can't help but smile. Her joy is too much to be contained in one person, it spills over and seeps into Mayumi like the warming rays of the sun. Pixie’s next words are like honey: 

“We’ll be on the same team, surely! You remember how to find me?” 

Mayumi nods, patting her pocket. 

“I’ve got my blindfold. I’ve got to find you by scent, and if I can’t, then I just sit and wait until you find me. I remember, don’t worry Pixie! We’ll be on a team!”  
“Oh, how wonderful! Pitiful Narcissa won’t join us. It’s apparently ‘lacking tact’ for all four of us all to be on the same team, I think Narcissa made that up.”

“I don’t know why, you're lovely Pixie. I’m happy to be on your team!” Mayumi says, swiftly shutting her locker and turning around, flashing a smile. Pixie pulls her into a hug, running her fingers through Mayumi’s hair. Her fingers brush Mayumi’s scalp, gently drifting over each strand as a bird would dip it’s wings into passing clouds. Mayumi smiles, pressing her cheek against the softness of Pixie’s sternum. 

“We’ll have plenty of fun without her, eh? Oh, I wonder who’ll be on our team! Anyone you’re hoping will join us?” Pixie says with a grin, giving Mayumi a squeeze. Mayumi shakes her head, brows furrowing in thought.

“Oh, I’m not really sure I have anyone in particular. I’m sure most people will be nice.”

“I’m sure they will, sweetheart,” Pixie pauses at the sound of a bell, glancing around with an energetic stare buzzing with vibrance. Her gaze follows the groups of students who are starting to file towards the doors with predatory focus.  
“I guess that means it’s time to go, come on!” Pixie says, gripping Mayumi’s wrists, her fingers like talons. Mayumi allows herself to be pulled after the other students into the lovely weather outside, sunbeams dancing on the skin under her eyes.

Soon the two file into line at the edge of a cliff, stopping in front of Ozpin. Mayumi hesitates before finding her spot, staring out over the hill. The lovely fall leaves flutter delicately under a wind soft as the weakest breath. She sees leaves that rustle with more enthusiasm and wonders what could cause such movements: birds or Grimm? 

Pixie breaks hands with Mayumi and the two find a metal plate to stand on, just as most of the other students were doing. Ozpin paces as they settle in, stopping and taking a sip from a steaming cup of something strong in his hands, a yeasty smell mingling with the roasted coffee. Mayumi shakes her head to chase the smell away and glances around for Vira or Narcissa down the line, but she barely has any time to search before the headmaster starts to speak. She abruptly ceases her search in exchange for politeness as Ozpin starts haphazardly. His speech is practiced but rushed, like a pianist who never asked for genius, but had the burden of brilliance placed upon his shoulders, purposefully fumbling over keys just to finish his unwanted masterpiece as soon as possible.

“I hope you all got a good night's rest, because now you’ll be facing the first of many challenges to be presented to you while at our academy. You are about to form your teams. First, you will be partnered by eye contact, then you will find your way to the north end of the forest where you will find an abandoned temple with several relics. Your performance today while retrieving the relics will be watched closely, and based upon that, you and your partner will be grouped into teams of four. ‘Choose’ your partner carefully, as you’ll live with them, and perhaps die with them, over the next four years.” He takes a swig from his coffee as he finishes.

Mayumi feels her head spin at the contradiction, how could one choose with the prerequisites for partner choosing being so random? She feels like her and Pixie had cheated the system, but surely most people wouldn’t be taking matters into their own hands like that! She shakes her head and forces herself to focus on Pixie’s instructions and soon she feels the buzz start to settle. She pushes all of Ozpin’s words down into the back of her mind; she only has to worry about one thing: getting that blindfold on and finding Pixie. She lets out a shaky breath, her nerves settling. Ozpin pats his upper lip with a dark green cloth and continues his speech.

“Now, everyone get ready. I hope you all have a landing strategy in mind.” 

Mayumi crouches low.

“On your marks.”

The first student down the line is flung from the cliff.

“Get ready.”

Mayumi’s fingers dig into her pocket and grip the blindfold.

“Go!”

With a fling, the metal plate beneath her springs up and she flies through the air. She twists, feeling the stream of wind flow over her as splinters of cold slice through her skin. She unsheathes her weapon as a tree approaches, digging the blade into its bark. She swings her weight and skids down towards the ground, landing with a soft puff in the leaves. After some digging in her pocket, she unravels her blindfold and ties it around her head, pulling the black fabric to ensure it’s secure. 

She stands, hearing the crashing of students through the foliage around her. She sways her head to take in the musky scents of the woods that mingle with the sharper odor of human excitement and fear. After a quick moment, she’s able to hone in on the familiar sweet, tangy smell of her companion and starts in that direction.

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

Gabriel crashes through the forest canopy, leaves and sharp branches slapping across his face. As the ground beneath him creeps closer, he pulls back his arm. Cybernetics light up with a pale blue glow and seconds before he meets the ground, he punches. Pain spreads through his arm and he yelps, tumbling through the air and rolling onto the ground coming to an abrupt stop at the base of a tree. He lays there for a moment to catch his breath and slowly rises and glances around to get his bearings. His head throbs and he struggles to intake air, but soon the silence of the forest subdues his woes.

Tall, golden-leafed trees rise above his head as glittering rays of sunlight bleed through. For a moment, he revels in how quiet the woods are, standing there waiting for something to shatter the stillness. When nothing does, he takes it upon himself and starts trudging forwards. 

Birds chirp and flutter anxiously above his head. His eyes glance up, following them as they dip between the branches. He basks in the momentary peace while knowing full well that at any moment a Grimm could shatter it. He quickens his pace, scolding himself. He shouldn’t linger on drifting thoughts like that. His focus, he figures, should be finding a partner and getting to the relics as soon as possible, for there is safety in numbers.

A low growl breaks his train of thought, followed by several ghoulish barks that echo through the trees. He readies his cybernetic arm, eyes glancing up towards the sound as his legs seize. The leaves rustle. The ground beneath him quivers. His heart lodges in his throat as he takes a stiff step back, eyes peeled as he awaits the Grimm that’s sure to burst through the tree line.

With a crash, the first of what appears to be a small pack of beowolves breaches the trees. A sharp howl rings through the air, spurring Gabriel into action. Eyes catching on the nearest tree, he springs towards it, fingers wrapping around a low branch. He heaves himself up just as a beowolf charges where he had been standing. One leaps into the air, claws slashing, and he punches through its chest. It falls back with a squeal, landing in a steaming puddle of scarlet. He leaps for the next branch, catching it with his hands and spinning up onto it, bouncing up to prepare for his next attack. The next Grimm leaps up, teeth bared and claws ready. Gabriel poises himself to strike; however, before he even gets the chance, a streak of brown hair and fur flies through the foliage above, brandishing flashing silver, slicing through the throat of a Grimm. Blood splashes, staining the hair concealing her face in steaming red.

She lands softly on the ground below, tail tip twitching. A Grimm charges her but before it’s claws tear through her back, she turns and her swords slice clean through the creature’s shadowy paws. Steam rises from the blood quickly evaporating from her skin and clothes, and in a flurry of movement she leaps up into the air, her swords flashing silver as she kicks off of the side of a tree, spinning down the spine of another Grimm. She becomes a furious, shimmering, whir of browns tinted with a metallic shimmer, steam from the creature's blood rolling off the gleaming edge, and soon the area lies silent. 

Gabriel swings down from the tree, landing easily. His eyes are glued on the back of the head of the girl. His own luck astonished him, the fact that she was able to so effectively hold her own. She was the perfect partner. Highly skilled and clearly just as disciplined as him, even if she was a faunus. Hell, he could probably even learn a thing or two from her! Blissful apprehension rose in his chest as she flicks the last specks of crimson from her blade, and then turns around. 

His heart drops. Wrapped over her eyes is a dark brown blindfold, neatly settled over the bridge of her dainty nose, scars peeking out from beneath it. Now that he’s able to get a good look at her, he notices that in fact her entire form is dotted with scars. Her arms, thighs, and exposed torso are covered in them, leaving him to wonder just what kind of battles she had fought. There are teeth marks down her wrists, actual teeth marks! It looks as if she had been caught in the jaws of a Grimm, and shaken around, though now she was standing here with subdued confidence, approaching with quick steps.

She sheathes her swords upon approach and extends a hand.

“O-oh. Uh, hello,” Gabriel says, stumbling over his words before settling into a formal tone typical of an Atlesian. He takes her hand, which is hot from the fight, and shakes it.

“Hello. I am Mayumi. It is nice to meet you,” she pauses, tilting her head. “Aren’t you the boy from Clover’s house? You used his bathroom,” she expresses in a soft, lilting tone. Gabriel squeezes her hand out of reflex, gritting his teeth. Ah, so  _ she  _ was the girl from the strange room! And even worse, she remembered it.

“Yes. My name’s Gabriel though. Uh, so… that blindfold?” he asks quickly in a desperate subject change fueled by curiosity. “Is it just for showing off?”

She laughs sweetly, shaking her head as she starts to move away from him, deeper into the woods. “No, no. It’s so I get the right partner.”

“Oh, so you want to make sure you pair up with someone who’s good?” he asks, intrigued by her thought process. She shakes her head again, the tip of her tail flickering with what Gabriel processes as mild annoyance.

“No, I already have someone who I’m supposed to be partners with. She’s my friend, so I need to keep my blindfold on until I see her.” 

“Ah, well I guess that’s one way to do it.” he says. She speeds up, and he follows suit. The two begin to flutter through the forest, an exotic dance routine between two flashy birds, flickering here and there in an attempt to both catch up and escape. He follows in tight chase, but within a flash Mayumi suddenly darts off the path and within seconds the leaves above his head are rustling. He watches the falling branches, the twigs twirling in the air like tiny helicopters, falling from the canopy like his hopes for a good partner.

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

Vira is quietly weaving a thin string through the end of a beowolf fang, her blindfold pulled over her eyes. Since she couldn’t smell with the keenness of her faunus companions, she was instructed to sit and make herself easy to find. However, sitting is boring so she busies herself with making jewelry from the beowolf that had been unfortunate enough to come across her. She feels the smooth surface of each bone beneath her fingers, fumbling with each piece as she finds the hole, and then with a satisfying slip she pulls the string through. The muscles know the action so well it feels as easy as breathing. So easy, in fact, she begins to hum, weaving to the rhythm of her dainty song.

Her song is soon broken by the crunch of a stick, and her head snaps up. 

“Hello? Narcissa? Are you there?” she calls in a voice softened with nerves. The crunching stops and the air feels as if it’s suddenly frozen as both parties cease to breath.

“No, no it’s not Narcissa. I’m, uh, Clover.” A male voice that most certainly wasn’t Narcissa responds. 

“Oh. Clover, huh, well, do you want to sit with me while I wait for Narcissa?”

She hears a hesitation, but then he approaches and sits next to her, leaves crunching as he sits. 

“Do you want me to show you how to make beowolf friendship necklaces?” she asks, holding out her hand to show her current work. The smallest of the beowolf’s teeth, white and gleaming, seem to wink like gleaming eyes from the soft skin of her palm. Clover extends his own hand and she dumps some into it cheerfully, grateful for the companionship. 

“My name is Vira, by the way… I don’t think I’ve ever met you. My friend has though! You remember Mayumi?” she asks, starting to dig the tip of a spiralled dagger into the base of one of the larger of the teeth. She holds the fang steady as she drills. 

“Yeah, I know Mayumi. Hey! I can make the holes, you can’t see you might cut yourself!” he warns, leaning closer. Vira pulls away sharply, holding the dagger and bone out of his reach. She stuffs her hand into her pocket, procuring another dagger with a similar spin on the tip. 

“I will not cut myself, and even if I do it doesn’t really matter that much. You can do your own holes, and I’ll do mine,” she explains curtly. A nervous hesitation flickers between them before Clover takes the dagger. Within moments, the soft sound of scraping fills the small clearing. 

“Please don’t cut yourself.”

Vira turns to face him, squinting into the black of her blindfold. “Oh, alright Clover. I won’t cut myself, just for you.” she says with a smile. He laughs nervously. 

“Thank you, Vira. I appreciate that.” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since this fanfiction is based on an rp, I have gotten permission to use a few people’s characters. The scenes in this book and the actions of these characters are written by me. However, they still deserve credit for these great concepts and all the amazing work in helping me develop ideas in the rp and just because they are all wonderful people! I love them dearly, so please check out any social media listed and go support them and check them out. 
> 
> Iciecal Skater  
> Instagram: iciecal_skater  
> Characters: Vira and Narcissa
> 
> Aiden  
> Youtube:https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxQTaomdKn-2gI_uGFEcb6w  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/HiImAiden4  
> Randy
> 
> Average  
> Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Average11  
> Gabriel
> 
> Enoan  
> Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjV87PVdONMrvfNf5ZqfvA  
> Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/en0an  
> Clover
> 
> Josie! She’s my girlfriend, I love her like, a lot, so go check her out because she’s amazing and does super cool art ^^ Her character, Qus, and his team, won’t be in the story for much longer, but watch out for him! Her social media coming soon.  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/jorsebean?s=09  
> Instagram: TallestLister

Air screams down either size of Pixie’s face, whipping her pink hair past her as she weaves through the trees. A candy-colored blindfold is wrapped tightly over the silky river of hair that flows over her shoulders. Her nostrils flare as she inhales deeply, scents from the forest mingling with the sharp, tangy odors of all those who had passed through. Male, female, happy, scared, excited, oh everything one could tell about a person just from their scent! Pixie releases a howling laugh, feet firmly pressing into the earth, pushing up and pressing her deeper into the web of scents. There was one, however, that she had locked on. Target acquired, and just like a missile glowing with red heat, she streaks through the woods towards that sweet scent, just like cake, edged with the faint musk of a fox. It was a scent so light Pixie could leap from the edge of it straight into the clouds, yet so deep she could sink breast-deep into its waters. 

Closer… closer the scent washes over her, until finally she squeezes her eyes shut, coming to an abrupt stop at the base of a tree. The air around her suddenly falls still. She extends her fingers and they trace the cracking bark. She sinks her nails as deep as she can and with a jerk of her arm, she tears a hunk from the tree’s skin and brings it to her face, inhaling deeply. This here piece of tree, Mayumi’s fingers had touched it. The crumbling wood falls like raindrops from between Pixie’s fingers and she releases them, standing, for a moment, transfixed by how lusciously intoxicating that very smell was. No, more than her fingers! More than those dainty little fingers… her whole hand! Maybe a leg, or even an arm! In that sparkling instance, Pixie understood that Mayumi had shimmied up this tree, and so to follow the delicious sweetness of that young girl's odor, she too scurried up.

There was one thing, however, that she found equally intriguing as well as disturbing: there was this scent that trailed the ground behind Mayumi, keeping a steady pace with her all the way from that mess of Grimm skeletons to this here tree, and that was this male scent. Disgustingly male! Grossly masculine, and all things Pixie disliked in a smell. Disgusting. Enough to make her spit. Unlike the soft, fluffy, deepness of Mayumi this smell was dry on her nostrils and made her toes curl, oh the fact that a male would dare pursue her for this long! How desperate, and the sick act of desperation, especially after her own precious little darling! This was something she surely could not stand for. So, she slipped that revolting smell into her back pocket and ran her tongue over the sharp points of her canines. That was a smell she’d have to remember just long enough to put a face to it, and with that face would come a name and a name meant a target. A plaything. A lovely little toy to bat her paws at.

Oh, but now was not the time for idle fantasies. No, she had a mission! A task at hand, nestled right here in her slender fingers was this goal she just had to achieve! Mayumi, yes that was her goal and therefore her focus. She reaches out and grips another branch, swinging through the air and landing in the next tree, hair floating gently like seagrass a-storm in shallow water, settling with the speed of such. She continues this trend, her fingers clawing after Mayumi’s invisible calling card. She stops at its peak, the very top of the mountain of all this whirling aroma, oh it was weaving around her like a typhoon now! She wags her head in a bearish way, searching the air for a clear sign until… 

Mayumi! Oh, a symphony rings clearly in Pixie’s ears just at the very  _ notion  _ of her being so close! She slides down from her current bark-clad throne and lands heavily on the ground, mouth agape clearly revealing her gleaming fangs.

“Oh sweetie!” she calls, rushing towards the sound of rustling leaves. She feels a breath of air as Mayumi turns and then with a solid smack the two collide, Pixie herself a force of nature. Mayumi loses her footing and yelps, hands flinging into the air. Her startled cry, however, quickly morphs into the purest laughter to ever bless the thin skin of Pixie’s eardrums! Pixie fumbles, fingers trailing over Mayumi’s cheeks, clad in what Pixie could only describe as flesh woven with silk. Surely, it was the only way touching it could ever be so delightful. She finds her target soon enough, however, and tears off the blindfold. Mayumi’s own thin hands find their way through Pixie’s mane of hair and soon both are lying in the dirt, dark eyes locked on the blazing flames of blue.

“Pixie! You found me!” Mayumi says, cheeks flushing. Pixie’s breast heaves with each breath as she crouches, arms on either side of her companion’s shoulders. A wide grin peels across Pixie’s face, her eyes alight with that beauteous life that sprung up within her chest when she caught sight of Mayumi’s soft expression. 

“Well of course I did, you’re my favorite thing to find,” she teases, slowly pushing herself up and off of the ground. Mayumi lays there, hair a halo around her face, until Pixie offers a hand for her to take. Mayumi grips it like a lifeline and with a light flexing of her muscles, Pixie pulls her up. The two embrace. Pixie’s hand strokes the tender strands of Mayumi’s hair, her thoughts drifting. 

After what Mayumi considers too much time for a hug to be necessary, the young girl begins to squirm, twisting to let Pixie know she wished to be released. 

“Hey… we should uh… probably get going to find the relics.” Mayumi gently reminds her. Pixie clutches her a moment longer, then releases her and stares at her, a smile playing at her lips. 

“Ah, yes we should. Let’s go! Oh, we’re going to beat Narcissa and she’ll be so jealous of us!” Pixie cries, hands flinging up towards the heavens in an exuberant release of clear-eyed happiness. 

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

The steady drilling of the two daggers buzzes in Clover’s ears as he continues his work. Eyes narrowed with focus, he takes the task to heart as a small pile builds between the two of them, short molars to long canines rest nestled upon the tiny green blades of grass, each strand caressing the milky bones in an almost loving way. Fully engrossed in creating the perfect hole, he doesn’t notice the muted footsteps, nor does he take the time to pay attention to the scent of an approaching woman. Not until Vira ceases her carving and raises her head, piping up in a fawn’s voice:

“Narcissa! Hello!” 

Clover snaps his head up, eyes locking on a woman as equally blindfolded as Vira. Her hair was red as a wealthy woman’s pursed lips and had a dark cloth wrapped neatly across her eyes, although Clover swore he could see her expression. He could just imagine furrowed brows and eyes filled to the brim with something hot and boiling, quite ready to spill right from her sockets. It matched her nasty frown and would perfectly compliment the business-like manner of which she carried herself.

“ _ Boy!”  _ she sneers, snapping her fingers with an ugent viciousness enough to spark Clover to leap up, spilling the teeth and dagger from his hand. “Shoo, scram. Get out of here.” She speaks, tongue laced with a viper’s venom.

“Narcissa! It’s ok, I didn’t look at him! He was just helping me make necklaces,” Vira speaks in the near desperate tone of someone shushing an angered dog. 

Clover glances between the two, muling over the aggression of Vira’s apparent dream partner. He just couldn’t see the appeal in her. Perhaps Vira was confused, or worse, used to this behavior. Without thinking if these concerns should be spoken allowed, he leans over to Vira, whispering softly in her ear.

“Are you sure this is who you want to be your partner?” he murmurs. Immediately, regret flushes through his cheeks as he feels the woman’s gaze scorching through him, burning hot straight through the fabric over her eyes. 

“She’s quite sure, just as sure as I am that you are to leave us. Now, go.” she snaps bitterly. Vira tentatively approaches, reaching out to grasp Narcissa’s hand with her own. Clover watches in astonishment as she takes to the older companion like a fish to water, leaning into her with a soft smile. Narcissa snaps her neck towards him as if she could sense his lingering gaze and quite frankly, disliked it. Her invisible stare washed over him with so much intensity he could feel it burning holes in his skin. 

“Alright… alright...” Clover murmurs apprehensively, hands above his head to issue his official surrender. The two begin to walk off, and once Narcissa’s eyes are off of him, he turns to stare after the swaying red ponytail that’s gently brushing her shoulder blades, tickling her spine. He wondered at the strangeness of the two, fearing only momentarily for the softness that was the dark haired girl following too tightly in clutch. He sighed, turning away to find his own path through the woods: whatever the case, now he could only trust Vira’s judgment and hope it wasn’t as off-kilter as it appeared.

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

Mayumi weaves behind Pixie, following that colorful plume of vibrance that always trailed like her personal calling card. Fresh air streams by the two, flicking gently like feathers brushing against the softness of Mayumi’s cheeks. It was enough to make Mayumi howl, however she knew Pixie would become quickly annoyed in this moment of grandeur if Mayumi were to spoil it, so instead she held her breath and spurred herself forwards.

“Oh, Mayumi! We’re about to reach a clearing, I see that it brightens past these trees! I think I smell ruins, old stone and moss. Do you smell it?” she asks, and by her tone Mayumi understands the rhetorical nature of the question. She inhales deeply. She could smell it. The earthy tones of moss and the lighter, harsher, smell of aged stone. She closed her eyes, picturing crumbling towers and dilapidated shrines to gods of the past. Oh, yes she could smell it! How wonderful the keen nose of a faunus was. 

The two start to slow, until at the edge they skid to a complete stop, eyes wide as they take in what their noses had already alerted them of. Smooth greyed ruins lay like the broken remains of a fallen bird’s nest, the patches which received the sun’s flighty attention cast in the forest's auburn tint. Mayumi reaches out, tugging Pixie’s sleeve and pointing so that she, too, would pay attention to the fragile beauty in the ruin. Pixie loved things in the aftermath of destruction. Years of walking through the cooked remains of unfortunate towns with her had taught Mayumi this much.

The girl’s admiration was short lived, however, as just across the clearing the trees began to sway much too violently to be accounted for by wind, and soon a pair of figures burst forth breaking the treeline. Mayumi squints, though it’s the powerful scent of their fear wafting, clear as day, through the clearing that tells her their identity instead of their figures. Randy and Gabriel! 

Her eyes widen as the creature that needed no smell to identify followed their desperate forms, a large creature flexing muscles beneath black and white scales that gleamed with a fierce majesty in the sun’s glare. Fangs glint, wet with venom, and a shriek spills into the tranquility of the clearing from both of its massive jaws. Red eyes glaring, the Grimm rears its heads and Mayumi feels the spike of adrenaline rush through her veins. In an instant, her swords are drawn. Pixie’s voice oozes, a drunken look seeping into her blue gaze. 

“Oh sweetheart… this looks like a grand ole’ time…” she muses, and without a single beat of hesitation, the two girls dive in with the intent to garnish the clearing in the Grimm’s skeleton. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since this fanfiction is based on an rp, I have gotten permission to use a few people’s characters. The scenes in this book and the actions of these characters are written by me. However, they still deserve credit for these great concepts and all the amazing work in helping me develop ideas in the rp and just because they are all wonderful people! I love them dearly, so please check out any social media listed and go support them and check them out. 
> 
> Iciecal Skater  
> Instagram: iciecal_skater  
> Characters: Vira and Narcissa
> 
> Aiden  
> Youtube:https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxQTaomdKn-2gI_uGFEcb6w  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/HiImAiden4  
> Randy
> 
> Average  
> Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Average11  
> Gabriel
> 
> Enoan  
> Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjV87PVdONMrvfNf5ZqfvA  
> Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/en0an  
> Clover
> 
> Josie! She’s my girlfriend, I love her like, a lot, so go check her out because she’s amazing and does super cool art ^^ Her character, Qus, and his team, won’t be in the story for much longer, but watch out for him! Her social media coming soon.  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/jorsebean?s=09  
> Instagram: TallestLister

Long fangs gleam in the sun’s scorching rays, eyes of scarlet glaring down and casting judgement on the assembled, who scramble like ants under its gaze. Mayumi feels her heart leap in her chest as she flies up from the ground, the beastly head slamming its fangs to eject deadly venom straight into the earth where she had been standing. She hears Pixie’s laughter screeching out behind her, long flames licking at the edges of her blades. In the trees above her head, Narcissa swung from thin wires that kept her suspended, dipping like a barn swallow through the greenery.

The diamond-shaped head writhes, trapped within the dirt as it tries to tear it’s fangs loose. In its lapse of concentration, Mayumi dashes up the nearest tree, running over the plan Pixie has quickly shouted to her, relaying Narcissa’s concept in a brilliantly exciting way. 

_ “I want you to fly down it’s back, splitting it wide up, and when it turns to retaliate I’ll off this here head. Narcissa, she’ll work some magic on the other one! Full-proof, sweetheart, full-proof.” _

Splinters fly as she pushes off of the bark, sword’s laxing at the push of a button and wrapping around a branch. She swings, flying through the air swiftly. She twists, her body manueving with a dancer’s grace. Her swords run the snake’s back, splitting each scale as if they were black diamonds waiting to be cut into a more beautiful shape. She stares, wide-eyed, into the snapping tendons and ripping muscles that gleamed, dark and slick, just inches below the beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. With a flick, her sword slips from the Grimm’s skin. 

The air before her dances with glistening droplets of scarlet, glinting rubies that hang suspended in the air, transparent to the light above. The blood rushes to her ears, face flushing as her heart flutters, feet dancing on what she imagines to be the very tips of each scale. Her eyes gleam. Her veins tighten with the rush of endorphins and her body becomes light, as if she were a butterfly, drifting hazily in still air. The brief fragility of the moment shatters, an ear-piercing scream rising into the air. 

The viper’s head twists, it’s jaws peeling open wide as its eyes burn with fury. Mayumi doesn’t waste a single beating of her heart. Heat from the King Taijitu’s breath washes over her, towering fangs bearing down. She pushes into that heat, swords clashing against the fangs. The metal slides against the bones with a shriek that tears into Mayumi’s eardrums. Beneath her, she feels her feet begin to slide in the slick blood pooling in the scales of the creature. She quickly pulls her other sword, and, gritting her teeth, she slashes through the muscle of the exposed gums. The creature jerks it’s head back, head flailing with confusion. However, Mayumi slips, scrambling desperately as her footing fails and she tumbles to the ground. The King Taijitu barely takes a moment to settle. 

Before Mayumi even has a chance to collect her own bearings, the light dies as the yawning mouth bears down on her. She tenses her body, awaiting the painful snapping of jaws, the piercing of fangs through the soft flesh of her abdomen-

“Hey - oh your name is Mayoumi! Right?” a voice interrupts, his voice cracking nervously. The boy Mayumi recognizes as Clover is now serving as a pretty effective barrier between the fangs and her own tender body. She wastes no time to even acknowledge him, instead just pushing herself back and up from the ground, dashing back into the fray. Clover’s shields whirr to life, and with a tear, he frees the spinning blades from the deadlock. 

“So… do you have a plan?” he asks, rushing to keep up with her. 

“No. No, I don’t. Pixie has a plan.” Mayumi responds. 

“Oh. Pixie?” 

“My partner. I am supposed to distract the head, although… I fell so I think I ruined the plan.” she says quietly, guilt gnawing at her stomach. An idea worms its way into her head and her expression brightens.

“Ah! Shields! I need a boost,” she says, slowing for a moment to fall behind. Clover’s eyes light up and he nods, kneeling onto the ground and placing one of his shields above his head. Mayumi dashes forwards, leaping. As her feet brush the face of the shield, he pushes up and she flies through the air. The snake writhes, meeting her and the edges of her swords midair. 

As Mayumi skids over its forehead and down it’s neck, she feels a warm glow of fire and hears Pixie’s ecstatic laugh. Tongues of flame reach out and Pixie stands with steam rolling off of her arms. The urumi is clutched in her hands, streaming like ribbons, cracking like a whip above her head. 

Pixie stalks forward, moving with villainous urgency. Orange dancers sway at their hips on the metal surface of her weapon, their reflections winking against the large, blue canvasses of her eyes. Within a flash of light, and a loud cry, the creature lurches. A spray of brilliant crimson bursts forth, spinning like circus performers in their hoops of flame. Tigers, teeth bared, coats stained red, jumping for the audience. Pixie lands, flicking her weapon and surveying the group casually. Limply, the head falls behind her, the thick, muscular stump of the neck inches in front of her toes. Steam engulfs her, eating the flesh of the snake so quickly that soon Pixie strides confidently over its skeleton. Within seconds, Narcissa zips down from the tree line, landing beside her companion.

“We could have helped you with the other head.” Narcissa replies cooly. From the base of the trees Vira emerges like a pale ghost, followed by Cerna and Randy.

“Naaaw, sweetie, I told ya’, we had it covered. Didn’t we, hun?” Pixie asks Mayumi, her grin slipping across her face like a ruby-colored snake. Mayumi quickly nods.

“Of course, we would have had it done even faster if… I hadn’t slipped up.” Mayumi says abashed, face flushing with embarrassment. “But… I had help, and so we did good.” Mayumi responds in a practiced tone. She liked to imagine herself like the insides of a scroll, though sometimes that was much too complicated. So instead she just became the noise, the click-click of the keys that did what you told them. Click-click. Click-click.

“Pfft, at least you understand your mistake.” Pixie murmurs, her sharp gaze disapproving. Mayumi reaches out and wraps her fingers around Pixie’s, though the tenderness of her touch is not reciprocated. Mayumi’s expression falls, resting at the tops of her shoes.

“Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself. You did a lot of good! That airborn sword work was a real unique style-”

Clover doesn’t finish his compliment. Mayumi feels Pixie’s long nails dig into the skin of her hand. The heat of embarrassment rises up her neck.

“I think we shouldn’t be standing around idly, we have relics to find, so me and  _ my  _ partner are going to go find them, if you don’t mind.” Pixie turns, roughly pulling Mayumi with her. Mayumi sends a last glance back at the rest, waving timidly. 

“Thank you Clover!” she mouths, only to be roughly shoved along by Pixie. Narcissa’s form quickly falls in line behind Mayumi, and only then does she force herself to look ahead. 

“Goddamn  _ males _ ,” Pixie murmurs under her breath. 

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Mayumi’s eyes can not possibly grow wide enough to take in the ruins. She had seen them from across the clearing, but now that the soles of her brown boots were brushing the rugged stone that crawled out from under her, she couldn’t help but be in awe of it’s unruly beauty. Perhaps beauty was the wrong way to describe its captivation. No… it was the very fact that this beast, crouching low with bones made of stone and flesh made of tumbling rocks, was so weathered and ancient. Within each crease of it’s skin, each tiny, scattered, pebble she could smell a story. Something in the air, she could tell this place had a story that was more beautiful than the grandest of still-standing buildings. 

“Oh if only walls could talk,” Pixie murmurs, echoing all of Mayumi’s jumbled thoughts in one simple phrase. She sends Mayumi a playfully devilish smile. “Eh? Wouldn’t that be something?” she says. Mayumi nods, feeling dumb for her lack of reply. She could only stare at the whimsical not-talking walls, pulled along by Pixie’s firm arm. 

“Hey… sweetie. Wanna pick out the relic?” she says quietly, bumping Mayumi with her elbow. Mayumi snaps into the present, turning her head to follow Pixie’s finger. Ahead, there were several aged pillars decorated with creeping moss, hungrily eating the stone. Atop each one a delicately crafted chess piece was settled, several of different shapes and colors. A shimmering metallic one caught her eye, sculpted from gold into the shape of a feminine ruler. Mayumi points.

“I like that pretty gold queen.” Mayumi says. Instantly, she’s released. Mayumi dashes forwards, fingers wrapping around the queen’s figure. She runs her fingers over the little bumps of the crown, proudly clutching it to her chest.

Mayumi glanced around her at the other students, careful not to stare too long for fear that she would incite Pixie’s anger. Randy and Gabriel were quietly bickering, though eventually they settled on a glinting pawn. Cerna and Clover, the two both solemn and quiet, find their way to a rook. Clover says something smartly, and Mayumi hears his false confidence but not his words. Cerna nods, reaching out to snag the piece made of marble. Her eyes then rest on the only pair Pixie wouldn’t snap at, Narcissa and Vira. Vira glances up with glass eyes, tentative. Narcissa’s firm nod serves as a silent signal, and Vira happily grabs the marble bishop. 

“They have a pretty white bishop.” Mayumi says quietly. Pixie sighs gruffly, blowing thin, pink strands from her eyes.

“Well, the church is for suckers anyways.” Pixie says, hands locked behind her head. “Come on, we’re done here. Let’s head on back.” she says. She waves to Narcissa, and without a word passing between the two women, a similar idea flows through them and they turn to head back through the woods. 

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“Next we have team glacier, GLCR…” Ozpin calls out in a hollow voice. He calls each student’s name and they approach the stage, and Mayumi recognizes Narcissa and Vira in the assembled students. The large bearish boy from the night in the cafeteria, Cerna, is on Vira’s team. This is overshadowed by the other boy who is making his way up onto the stage: Clover! The sound of Ozpin’s voice slowly fades from Mayumi’s consciousness as her thoughts drift, soft and featherlike. First she thinks of the pocket dimension, but then she thinks of the battlefield where he had saved her and her cheeks burn with embarrassment. 

There’s a sharp pang in her ribs, and she quickly glances over towards the source.

“Well, you comin’ up?” Pixie asks, motioning for Mayumi to trail after her. She gives a tiny nod, following, desperate not to be left behind.

“Why are we going up? What did we do?”

“Our team, Mayumi. They called up our names.” Pixie says quietly, whispering low into Mayumi’s ears. Pixie’s gaze is elsewhere, up on the stage, rather than her conversational partner.

“Oh… oh! Ok!” she says. Pixie’s grinning wide, eyes full of devastating joy. As Mayumi carefully steps up the slope of the stairs, she sees two boys instead. She waves, happy to see that they were both familiar faces. She assumed that Pixie knew who they were as well, for why else would she seem so happy to see them? She eagerly stands in line, hanging onto Pixie’s arm. Lights flash from the floor of the stage and glean from the large screen displaying the letters of what she assumed to be her team’s acronym. As her eyes scan over it, Ozpin’s voice rings in her ears.

“Team pomegranate: Mayumi Nise, Gabriel Rialles, and Randy Williams lead by Pixie Istori.” he says. A tight squeeze from Pixie and everything falls in place like the letters, blazing with the vibrance of Pixie’s hair, on the screen.

**_PMGR._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! It's me, Star! Your friendly neighborhood author! So I hope you've all been enjoying my little story here! I've been having so much fun with it! Now, to end this chapter I'd like to ask you a question: since we now know most of the main cast, even if only a little, whose your favorite character so far? Why? Lemme know in the comments below! I would love to interact with you all and hear who you like!


	7. Chapter 7

Mayumi had never realized that so much of this huntsman training would revolve around classroom activities. Dust Augmentation, History, Law, Grimm Studies. Textbooks slamming on her desk. Teachers, dashing around the classroom or moving sluggishly between the students, preaching their lessons. The first few days held no time for adjustment. No. Instead, she was thrown, head-first, right into a world of learning and facts and all sorts of things to be memorized. Names were the worst of it all. Not only did she have to struggle to remember the dates of important events and the species of Grimm and their domains, but she also had to remember the professor’s names! She couldn’t hold their names in her memory, which had always been testy. She marveled at how Pixie remembered so much about each teacher, knowing not only their name, but also what kinds of snacks they liked, and how to behave around each one. 

“Goodmorning Professor Port!” 

As the two saunter into Professor Port’s classroom, Pixie calls out to the stout old man peering through his grey facial hair at some papers on his desk. Mayumi wonders just how he could see through his thick eyebrows and wildly growing facial hair. Before she can stare too long, Pixie ushers her along with her two new “teammates”. Pixie seemed to have taken a strong liking to the young boys, much to Mayumi’s confusion. As soon as they had settled into the dorm rooms, Pixie had gathered the group up around her and declared loudly that she was determined to host the finest team to pass through Beacon. Randy and Gabriel had since been rather complacent in Pixie’s antics. They were, Mayumi assumed, bewildered by her.

Professor Port hobbles out from behind his desk, finished looking over the messy stack of papers settled there. He raises a hand to gesture to the class, and begins to speak in his low, muffled tones.

“Now, students, today we will be trying something a bit different. Rather than our usual classes and projects, we’ll be doing some field work. When I was a young boy sitting in your very own seats, I learned the importance of field missions.” 

Mayumi can sense a story coming on the tail-end of his introduction. He pats his stomach, tugging at the long hairs of his mustache. “But today we don’t have time for stories of my youth, instead we’re going to get right to business.” 

There’s a sigh of relief around the lecture hall, including from Mayumi. She’s excited by field work. Field work didn’t include memorizing the movements of Grimm and their habits, instead it was just go and take care of them. That is something Mayumi can do just fine. 

“Today you will be preparing for a mission which I will assign to you. As a huntsmen, it’ll be important for you to practice field work, and Grimm exterminations are some of the most popular missions that huntsmen take up during their career. You’ll work with your team to prepare for a mission, plan out your battle strategy, as well as ensure that you will have a place to stay because many of these will be overnight trips outside of the city limits. Of course, this activity does have to follow school safety procedures, so a professor or registered huntsman will be going with,” he says, pacing before the assembled. 

“Your grade will be determined by the huntsmen’s report of your team’s performance. You’ll get both an individual score, as well as a team score, and those will be averaged for your grade. Do any of you have any questions before I begin passing out assignments?”

There’s a buzz in the air as the many anxious students exchange glances, though not a single one raises their hands. Mayumi’s eyes gleam.

“None? Ah, well if you all think of any, remember there is plenty of time between now and then, so I encourage you to come ask me if any crop up. For now, you all sit tight as I call everyone up.” Walking back to his desk, he picks up a thin, clean, stack of papers holding the team names of his students. He coughs gruffly to clear his throat, and starts calling up team after team to explain their assignment. 

“This is pretty neat.” Randy says, fidgeting in his seat. “You guys have much experience with killing Grimm? Like, in the field?” He glances at Pixie, as she had been bragging rather frequently about her vast experience in Grimm slaughter. She grins, flashing her sharp fangs. Mayumi’s heart flutters. She can taste one of Pixie’s larger-than-life stories coming on, just dancing on her companion's tongue.

“Oh, honey, this’ll be such a piece of cake. Sure thing, sweetie, I know all about experience in the field. You know, in all my travels, I’ve spent plenty of time bringing them down. Hoards of them, all slewn,” she says. She drags her arm in front of her, replicating a fell swoop of her sword. 

__

Gabriel watches the odd couple as Pixie delves into her story. Mayumi hangs onto every word that Pixie says, nodding like a little bird transfixed by a shiny piece of string. Despite Mayumi’s soft nature, she sticks tight with this obnoxious companion. It’s curious that they came to be friends and he couldn’t think of why. He wanted a chance to ask Mayumi about it, but Pixie has always been hovering right behind her, arms swooped over Mayumi’s shoulders like the wings of a vulture. To pair it off, over the last couple days he had started to feel as if Pixie had been watching him. Carefully. Taking chances to separate the two didn’t seem wise.

“Say… Gabriel! How are you feeling about this? Pretty interesting, eh?” Pixie says as she breaks from her story. With a saunter, she shimmies past the other two, sitting on Gabriel’s other side. She places a warm hand on his shoulder and he shivers. To him, her hands burned like ice.

“I think,” he starts, pausing to carefully ponder his next words. He had come to realize that this vibrant woman had a tendency to snap vivaciously between moods, something he had to tiptoe around. 

“I think… that it sounds like a grand time,” he settles on, after much consideration.

Whipping her head back, she laughs loudly, her fangs brandishing the air. She gives his shoulder a tight squeeze. “You sure are funny,” she says in a low voice. Patting his back, she pulls away.

He squirms slightly in his seat, though he bites his tongue to prevent any complaints from slipping. His heart quickens in his chest. Playing with the frayed edge of his jacket where he had torn the sleeve off, he watches her carefully. She’s leaned back, relaxed, and breathing softly as the seconds of class tick by. 

All of a sudden she’s up with a burst of energy, and Gabriel quickly realizes why.

“Team Pomegranate! Please, come down I have your assignments prepared! P-M-G-R! Approach!” Port calls in a flurry. Pixie juts her chin into the air and starts to march between the seats of the lecture hall down to Port’s desk. Like a little dark haired puppy, Mayumi follows close behind, one hand held out to try and grasp at Pixie’s and that foxish tail of hers streaming from the skirt of her school uniform. Randy pops up and takes his place, and Gabriel rounds out the rear. 

As they approach, Port catches them all in the stare of his little eyes. They glint black and warm, soft like warm coals left to cool. With a glance down, he shuffles through his papers until he finds their assignment. 

“Ah, this seems like a good one. There’s a group of boarbatusks that have started destroying a farmer’s crops in a little town outside of Vale by the name of Nyma, and causing a great deal of harm to his workers. Nasty little fellers, they are. But nice and easy for some first years. However-” he pauses abruptly, catching them all in a stare that was supposed to be intimidating. The Professor’s soft face paired with the roundness of his stomach didn’t build the appearance of a frightening man. 

“There is a strict lack of casualties here. That is the challenge. Do not damage his corn any more than the boarbatusks have, and do not harm a single building or farmhand. That will result in a  _ severe  _ reduction of points. Something that’s just as well to keep in mind, you are only to kill the boarbatusks. No other Grimm, that wasn’t authorized,” he says. After a pause, he chortles and pats his chest. “Don’t stress too much, though. I’m sure you’ll do fine. Now, disperse!” he orders. The professor holds the paper out to them, which Pixie eagerly snatches before marching off. She leads the procession like a drill sergeant, head held about just as high. 

“Boarbatusks! Let me tell you, I’ll have those taken care of right and good!” she proclaims. Her body sways with energy. Lighting sparks at the tips of her fingers as they flicker in the form of erratic gestures. A long smile beams from cheek to cheek and her pigtails bounce softly against her shoulders. 

When they’re settled back in their seats, they start pouring over information on their computers and scrolls as Pixie drones on about the fights she’s won against boarbatusks.

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

A book lays on the table in front of Mayumi as she struggles to read it. Her mind feels as though it is full of insects, buzzing just as much as a hornets nest. The first few minutes of the chapter had been ok, but as she continued on the words began to run together as if someone had spilled juice all over the pages. It was from her Dust Use and Augmentation class, which Mayumi didn’t understand at all. She knew that dust could be used in weapons, Professor Ivan had told her all about his mad genius in that very application of it, but that was back in Chaos when she herself hadn’t had to understand how to do it herself. 

Back in Chaos. She shuts her book and leans back to think about the group, what the others were doing at this very moment. Oh, she was sure Ivan was being rather patient. Most others would be anxious, waiting for the information Pixie and Narcissa were going to bring, but not Ivan. The Professor was always calm. Nothing riled him. Resting her head on her chin, Mayumi sighs softly and thinks about how happy he will be when they return. Maybe he’d even laugh. He rarely ever did so. Drifting on daydreams of Ivan’s laugh and level head she didn’t notice Clover approaching her from behind until he tapped on her shoulder.

“Hey, Mayumi?” he asks. Mayumi jumps, gripping the hilt of her sword with fright.

“Clover! Don’t surprise me like that!” she yelps. Clover chuckles and holds his hands up in surrender.

“Relax, just me! I just noticed that you seemed to have given up on your readings from Dust Augmentation and was wondering if you needed some help. I finished mine yesterday, so I can gladly help you with yours.” he explains. He pulls out a chair and sits down next to her, reopening her book to the proper chapter.

“Here. I’ve noticed you’ve been having problems paying attention in class, and keeping your mind in your books. Let’s see if we can make this more interesting so that it holds your attention, and you can actually remember what you’re reading,” he offers. 

“The words all run together, like water color paint,” she sighs, looking away with a pout. “And this textbook is boring. Speaking of paint… I’ve started running out. I should go get some…” she murmurs, her mind drifting into the clouds again. Clover gives her shoulder a quick shake. 

“Mayumi: back to present.” he says sternly. “Do you like painting?” he asks after some consideration. 

“Yes! Oh, I love watercolors. Acrylics are ok, but watercolors are so pretty! Oh, and drawing. I love drawing people,” she says smoothly. This was much better than dust already.

“What else do you like? I saw you against that King Taijitu, you seemed to be pretty good at fighting. Do you like that?” he asks. Mayumi pauses, glancing up at the ceiling. She supposed she enjoyed fighting. It was fun...as long as it was Grimm. Especially afterwards, when the Grimm was killed and she was praised for her hard work. Not as fun as painting, but fun in its own right.

“Yes! I do like fighting. Especially Grimm!” she chirps. Clover nods slowly. His expression is one of serious thoughts, like a brooding owl. Or a lizard. He smelled an awful lot like a lizard, so she supposed that comparison was much more proper. 

“Do you use dust when fighting?” 

Mayumi frowns and crosses her arms. Of course! It was all a ruse, he was just trying to get back to her schoolwork and dust. Here she was, thinking he was saving her from it, but of course it was just a trap!

“Yes. I do. Mostly just the gravity dust in my swords, Pixie uses it much more than I do,” Mayumi replies with the harshness of a growling dog.

“Well...how does Pixie use it?” 

“She uses it in her weapon, and with her semblance. And sometimes, she puts it in her clothes,” Mayumi explains.

“Hey, add ‘injected into the skin’” and you’ve got all of the basic ways people can use dust, that’s what Professor Dimitri wants you to memorize for the quiz,” Clover explains tentatively. Mayumi’s betrayal slides away like water off her back and she scoots closer, looking up with wide eyes.

“Really? That’s it?”

“Yeah. That’s all the textbook is really telling you, they just take longer to do it.”

“Huh. Well, I think the authors of this textbook need to learn a thing or two about the art of being concise,” Mayumi says with a tight scowl. Clover chuckles, and to this Mayumi glances at him with surprise.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You.” 

Bewildered, Mayumi stares at him. She frantically glances down at herself, suddenly worried that perhaps she had something odd stuck to her somewhere. She pats her blouse, staring at her skirt. 

“What are you doing?” he asks with a cocked brow.

“Well...is there something on me? You were laughing at me!” she cries defensively. Clover chuckles, which sends Mayumi spiraling further into confusion. 

“No, I was laughing because you said something funny. There is nothing wrong with what you’re wearing,” he says calmly. Not quite trusting him, Mayumi sends him a harsh look. 

“Really? Are you sure? I don’t just have dirt on my shirt, and you aren’t telling me?” 

“Yes, I am quite sure. I promise I am not pulling your leg.”

“Well I know that!” 

“Things really go over your head, don’t they?”

Mayumi opens her mouth and lets it hang like a door with a broken hinge, finger held in the air as a signal of her surrender. After a pause, she decides against whatever she was about to argue and stares down at her skirt cast in a deep red blush, a pleasant feeling mixing with the embarrassment. He was laughing at her, but it was so good humored that it felt strange. 

“I suppose they do,”

Mayumi laughs, stopping as Clover glances to a space above her head. With a twitch of her nose she soon realizes that Clover is staring at an approaching Pixie, whose heels are clicking against the hard wood of the library floor. 

“Oh Yu-Yu!” she cries. With a flurry, she flings her arms over Mayumi’s shoulders and wraps her in a tight hug. Eyes of electric energy are locked on Clover with a dark expression flashing jealously, like a pet left unattended to. Pixie squeezes Mayumi’s shoulder, her lush voice bleeding into Mayumi. It wraps its way around her throat like seaweed, squeezing like a serpent.

“Pixie! Oh...hi! Clover’s helping me with the reading for Dust Augmentation!” Mayumi replies perkily, though when Pixie hesitates to leave she feels her heart sink a little lower. She was enjoying Clover’s company, and it pained her knowing Pixie was going to take her away. Fingers curl around Mayumi’s wrist and Pixie snatches up her textbook, tugging lightly.

“I, uh, wasn’t done explaining the chapter to her.”

“Oh, well what a shame. I can help her study, I know all about dust. As a matter of fact, I use it quite often,” Pixie says cheerfully, venom laced into her words. She looks at Clover quite similarly to the way someone would look at a carcass that’s been rotting in the sun for a week or so. Mayumi doesn’t open her mouth to protest. Instead, she smiles breezily and waves in an offhand way to show her thanks. All at once, Pixie whisks around with Mayumi’s textbook in one hand, and the young girl’s wrist in her other.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since this fanfiction is based on an rp, I have gotten permission to use a few people’s characters. The scenes in this book and the actions of these characters are written by me. However, they still deserve credit for these great concepts and all the amazing work in helping me develop ideas in the rp and just because they are all wonderful people! I love them dearly, so please check out any social media listed and go support them and check them out. 
> 
> Iciecal Skater  
> Instagram: iciecal_skater  
> Characters: Vira and Narcissa
> 
> Aiden  
> Youtube:https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxQTaomdKn-2gI_uGFEcb6w  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/HiImAiden4  
> Randy
> 
> Average  
> Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Average11  
> Gabriel
> 
> Enoan  
> Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjV87PVdONMrvfNf5ZqfvA  
> Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/en0an  
> Clover
> 
> Josie! She’s my girlfriend, I love her like, a lot, so go check her out because she’s amazing and does super cool art ^^ Her character, Qus, and his team, won’t be in the story for much longer, but watch out for him! Her social media coming soon.  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/jorsebean?s=09  
> Instagram: TallestLister

Randy takes a chug from his water bottle as he watches Mayumi beat into a punching bag. He always took her as a little tyke, but judging by the jelly-like swaying of the bag each time her gloved fists smacked into it, she had some power behind her. Sweat beaded on his own forehead just seeing her pale skin covered with moisture from her efforts. Though he had to admit, a lot of the sweat dripping from his pores was just as much from his  _ own  _ efforts. Pixie had instituted a hard program which they were to start before their assignment. Planks, pushups, weight lifting, sparring, and fervent running made up her difficult work out routine. Pixie was ecstatic about it and Mayumi seemed used to the labor. While he was sure neither Gabriel or himself were unfit, this certainly was a step above the fitness routines they were used to. Even Atlas, he was sure, wasn’t this strict. 

“Come on boy!” Pixie cries with the harsh scream of a banshee, slapping Randy’s back with a firm hand. “What exactly are you doing standing around? I told you, we’ve only got a few seconds for drinks! You’ll have plenty of time for rest afterward when you’ll be enjoying the great taste of an after-workout protein shake!” she chirps. Randy sends her a withering gaze, though she only adjusts her sports bra and tightens her high-flying ponytail without giving him a second thought. 

Randy begrudgingly heads back over to Gabriel, who’s leaning against the wall watching Pixie hound Mayumi. Mayumi barely reacts, just tiny nods between strikes as she adjusts her posture to meet Pixie’s standards. Randy chuckles.

“They sure are something else,” he says. He stretches his hands above his head, feeling his shoulders pinch together.

“Yeah, well, get working before she comes over here. I don’t want her near me,” Gabriel mutters, standing nearby in case Randy were to drop the weight. Randy lays back on the bench and grips the bar above him, tensing as he lifts it and starts to go through the motions of raising and lowering the bar to brush his chest.

“Why - ng - n-not. She ain’t-S-she ain’t that bad,” Randy sputters between deep breaths. Gabriel shrugs. 

“She just seems a little aggressive, don’t you think?”

“Eh...excitable maybe,” Randy murmurs as he drops the bar into place and sits up. His shoulder muscles burn and he absentmindedly rubs them. 

“You don’t think she’s the slightest bit too excitable?” Gabriel asks, staring at Randy with a pleading gaze, almost begging him to agree. Randy pauses to consider. Pixie was an interesting cat, that was for sure. From her love of the fangs that marked her a faunus, to the breathless way she buzzed over past battles. She sure was lively and, he’ll admit, a bit strange. But, he thought this was a far cry from enough to be scared of her. She meant well, and the way she draped herself protectively over Mayumi seemed sweet. He thought it was almost motherly, the way she fawned over the younger girl.

“Naw, not at all. Hey! Talking about something else…” His voice trails off as he stands, leaving the bench ready for Gabriel. “What do you think about the mission? I heard in Atlas they didn’t have much field training, and it was mostly military based. Is that true?” he asks eagerly. Gabriel slowly nods, choosing his words carefully.

“Yeah…I don’t think I’ve ever actually gone on a field mission. I watched one, we went on a field trip to see some guy take out some Grimm in a dust mine. It was exciting, I guess. Not as exciting as being on a field mission, I’m sure. You been on many?”

Gabriel lays back and Randy prepares himself as a spotter, keeping his hands near the bar as Gabriel lifts it. 

“I’ve been on a couple. I’ve seen plenty, though. We had to view a mandatory amount of field missions at Signal academy, plus my parents were huntsmen so when I was little I gotta watch them go on some of their simpler assignments. I always found it exciting, and I remember killing my first Grimm in a field mission, it was pretty neat. Have you ever killed a Grimm?”

“Well, of course I have,” Gabriel breathed as he sets the bar on the rack, sitting up. “Not through a formal field mission, but yeah, they teach you how to kill Grimm. Just, instead they bring the Grimm to you,” Gabriel explains, as if this was normal. Randy stares at him with his mouth hanging open, though he quickly shuts it. His mother always told him how absolutely impolite it was to sit there catching flies in your mouth.

“They bring the Grimm to you? Are you sure, I heard it was near impossible to catch one! How did they even get it into the city?” Randy exclaims. Even if someone was lucky enough to be able to, he knew in Vale it was strictly off-limits to bring one into the city, let alone a school. They always found ways to escape, you couldn’t just  _ catch  _ a Grimm.

“Atlesian technology you kno-” 

Before Randy can hear what he was sure to be a mystical explanation, the doors to the training room open and a tall, thin boy with lanky arms and dark hair washing over his forward walks in. He’s got a long, thin staff with blades on both sides, and a slick grin on his face. His other teammates follow. One is a stout girl with broad shoulders and more muscle in her chest than anything else, or so it seemed, the other is a boy with equal height and build and matching sandy colored hair and piercing blue eyes. The last one seems perfectly average compared to his notable companions, but the look in his eyes matches that of the one with the slick grin. Randy watches them curiously until he realizes that they’re approaching their bench press. He watches them strut right on over and the tall thin boy places a hand on the bar.

“I like this bench,” he says with a voice as slimy as his dark hair and smile. 

“Oh, well, it’s pretty similar to all the other ones,” Randy offers. “We could also just move. I don’t know why it would be too big of a deal.”

“Naw, we like all of these benches.”

“Oh, well you’ll have to just use any of them then. Seems fair,” he says with a shrug. He turns back to Gabriel, ready to continue with the workout. 

“No, I don’t think you quite understand. I like  _ all  _ these benches, I don’t like seeing other people working on them,” the dark-haired boy says, placing a hand firmly on Randy’s shoulder. It felt much too cold for a normal hand, though Randy felt too stiff to push it away. Gabriel now stood, and finally he spoke to the boy for the first time.

“Hey, let go of him. You’re being obnoxious, you don’t need all of these benches,” Gabriel says bitterly, holding a glare. The boy laughs.

“Aw, come one. Besides, we can pretty easily make you, can’t we? Where’s your team to help you?” he teases. Randy is about to open his mouth to tell them about Pixie and Mayumi when suddenly the boy’s face goes white as a ghost’s, along with the faces of his teammates. There’s a soft giggle that Randy recognizes, feeling his chest swell. Of course they had a team, and that team was right there behind him!

“Of course they have a team! Don’t be  _ stupid _ !” Pixie oozes. Leaning forward, she places an arm over Randy’s shoulder, shoving the hand of the boy’s off with a flick of her wrist. Her voice is smooth and bubbly, like foam skimmed from the top of a soda-pop.

“Eh? What, he pay you to hang around him?” 

“Naw, he don’t ev’n have to, hun. What? You pay them to hang around you?” she asks, gesturing to the larger of his companions. Her arm slides from its perch on Randy’s shoulder as she approaches. She moves with lithe grace, as if she’s simply gliding over the floor. She sets a warm hand on the lead boy's shoulder, her face resting inches from his.

“What’s your name?” she asks. Randy hears something sharp in her voice, as silky as it is. 

“Reo?” he offers with the inflection of a question in his tone. Pixie pats his cheek, then raising her hand she slaps him across the face.

“What the hell!” he barks, stumbling back and holding his cheek, where a palm-sized welt was quickly fading with a quiet glow. “Are you crazy?”  
“Do you still want this bench?” she offers sweetly, gesturing to the row of benches. 

Reo snarls hotly, whisking around to nurse his face as well as his pride. The average seeming boy hurries to his side, nagging at Reo to let him look at the wound.

Randy turns his attention to Pixie, who has found herself a seat at the edge of the workout bench, examining her pale blue nails with a frown. 

“I believe I chipped a nail on his face, how unforgivable,” she murmurs to herself. Randy suspected that she didn’t care if he, or anyone else, heard. “Well, anyway, that right there was a lesson you should all take to heart. See what I did there? Got his attention on me rather than his aura, aw, he didn’t even have it up! You can use something like that to slide past someone’s defenses, bet they won’t teach you that in combat class,” she says with a thin smirk. 

“Why would they even teach us that in combat classes? Aren’t we mostly learning, like, Grimm extermination and stuff?” Randy asks. That’s all his parents ever did, hunted Grimm. Sure, maybe they’d help the police wrap up an arrest if they were nearby, but they stuck to Grimm for the most part. To Randy, learning about tricking people into dropping their aura seemed rather unuseful. 

“Of course that’s what they start you off on, but huntsmen can also help out with other things. Plenty can work as bounty hunters, political assassins…”

“Political assassins? Maybe in Atlas-”

“What’s that mean?” interjects Gabriel, folding his arms. It’s pretty apparent to Randy he had stepped a little too far into Gabriel’s sensitive zone, so he raises his arms in surrender.

“Nothing, nothing. Sorry,” he apologizes quickly. Pixie chuckles, standing with a hand placed on her hip.

“You guys are cute, now come on. You have more training to do, don’t you?” she asks. He swallows a groan. He had been hoping the little episode with Reo was enough to bring an end to today’s training. He should have guessed there would be more. 

“I guess…” Randy starts slowly, rising as though his back were made of wood to display his protest. Slapping Randy’s back like a proud father, Pixie snickers. 

“‘Atta boy…’atta boy- hey! Mayumi, I didn’t say you could stop!” Pixie says sharply, snapping her head to glare at Mayumi who had paused her own workout to watch. With a scurry, just like a little mouse ducking into its hole, Mayumi dashes back to work. Pixie claps, the muscles of her shoulder flexing.

“I want you all in top shape! No stragglers, no weak links on my team!”

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

In an attempt to make the process of reading more exciting, Mayumi is lying with her head hanging off the edge of her bed and a textbook clutched in her fingers. This wasn’t the only way Mayumi had tried to make her textbook reading more exciting, nor was it the strangest way. Randy had intervened already to tell Mayumi that no, reading while doing yoga would not make it any easier. In fact, it would just get sweat all over the textbook, which Mayumi found to be both true and unfortunate.

She thinks back to Clover, wishing that he could explain a new way of thinking about history. Although Pixie had promised to help Mayumi, she wasn’t very good at staying on task. Or explaining things. It wasn’t that Mayumi doubted that Pixie knew what she was talking about, Pixie is very smart and did quite well on the tests, she just wasn’t a very good teacher. 

Mayumi wonders if there is another reason she misses Clover’s lessons. He had been more than helpful, he had been nice. It worries her how much she had enjoyed her time away from Pixie, gnawing its way to her stomach where it settled like a heavy stone. Pixie would be angry if she ever found out about these thoughts. 

“Mayumi, stop that! All of the blood is going to go to your head, that’s not healthy,” Gabriel says, hurrying over and pushing up on her shoulders to try and force her into a sitting position. She giggles, Gabriel and Randy had both been rather adamant about putting a stop to all over her odd studying practices. They either said she was being silly, or going to hurt herself, and she supposed both of those were perfectly good reasons to intervene, even though she thought  _ they  _ were the silly ones for all of their effort. 

She sits up, pretending that Gabriel had been a help, and thanks him.

“Just, read the book normally,” he urges.

“But Gabriel...it’s so boring when I read it plainly, I need to spice it up!” Mayumi tries to explain, though she knows that the meaning falls flat to Gabriel, who gives an exasperated sigh and walks back over to his own bed to further his own studies. There was a test coming up in their History course, and they all wanted to be aptly prepared. That and the professor that would be working with them on Professor Port’s assignment was supposed to be stopping by to talk to them and introduce themselves. Pixie wanted them looking like good, studious, pupils eager to learn to make the strongest impression. 

Mayumi notices that Gabriel keeps glancing up from his book, staring at her. More specifically, he’s staring at her tail. A heat rises in her chest as embarrassment spreads across her face in the form of a blush. If she could have managed reading before, there’s no way she can now. 

“Gabriel, are you okay?” she ventures, closing her book and looking at him. 

“What? Oh. Yeah. I’m fine,” he says, hurriedly looking back at his book.

“No you’re not. You’re usually so studious, and you haven’t been reading your book. Something is on your mind.” Mayumi’s brows furrow, her arms crossing. There was no way she’s going to allow Gabriel to lie about his feelings like that. Besides, he wouldn’t be able to keep up his good grades if he was distracted. 

“Do faunus eat raw meat?” he asks quickly, his face turning as red as Randy’s hair as soon as the words leave his lips. “I-I’ve never seen you guys eat raw meat, but in Atlas...well...everyone said that’s what faunus did…” he mutters, his voice trailing off. 

Mayumi sits in silence. She wasn’t sure how to respond. The instinctual response was to snap ‘of course we don’t!’, but instead she takes a deep breath and shakes her head. He wasn’t trying to be mean. If he had these questions, she supposed it would be nice to answer them. 

“No. I’m actually pescatarian. I don’t eat red meat, only fish,” she explains patiently. He nods slowly, the color slowly fading from his cheeks as he regains his composure. “And no, usually faunus don’t eat raw meat,” Mayumi adds, her stomach twisting as she thinks of Pixie. As much as Mayumi cared for her, she could not list her dietary preferences as normal, nor could she bring those up here. “D-do you have any other questions then? It’s okay for you to ask, as long as you aren’t mean about it. It’s not like anyone in Atlas would have told you anything true about faunus.” 

Gabriel hesitates. After a few moments of muling over the offer, the questions come all at once. 

“Do you have an instinct to chase small animals?” he asks tentatively, realizing how stupid his question is as soon as it leaves his lips. Mayumi laughs. 

“No, that’s so silly. Why would I just chase small animals around? I’ll chase a cat if I want to hold it, and it’s running away,” she explains. 

“Ok. Thank you.” Gabriel pauses. “Can you communicate with animals? Like, understand their body language better? Or..something,” 

“Nope! I can’t do that,” she responds

“Are animals drawn to you?”

“That’s not true either,” she responds with a laugh. 

“Can you run faster than people?” 

“Well, as a huntress, I can run faster than your average civilian. But no, I can’t run all that much faster than any other huntress,” she explains. Randy, who had been reading on his bed, pipes up. 

“Hey do faunus have heat cycles?” he asks, turning a page in his textbook. Mayumi glares at him, her nose wrinkling with disgust. 

“No! That’s ridiculous! Who still thinks that?” 

“H-heat cycles?” Gabriel asks, his face beginning to redden.

“I read it online once. A lot of people do, evidently.” Randy glances at Gabriel, a thin smirk on his face. “Come on Gabriel, you know you wanted to ask that,” he teases. Gabriel shakes his head, turning away and snatching his textbook. 

“I wasn’t!” Gabriel snaps in response. 

“Oh come on, you totally were,” 

“A-any more questions?” Mayumi interjects, trying to salvage the conversation. 

“Nope!” Gabriel answers. He’s trying to sound angry, but the cracking of his voice betrayed him. 

Before anymore can be said on the subject, Pixie swings open the door, entering with confidence. 

“Mayumi! Keep reading. I said no chatter, we have to look good,” she says, finding a spot on her bed. She snatches a textbook from under the bed and starts to read it. “What were you talking about anyways?” 

“Nothing,” Gabriel answers evenly, if a bit too quickly. 

A knock sounds at the door before Pixie can respond. She abandons her book and shoots up from her bed, flashing to the door and yanking it open. Mayumi peers up over the top of her book. Before she even gets a full glance at the professor, Pixie’s shrill cry and the energetic flinging of her arms give his identity away. 

“Professor Dimitri!” she cries with enthusiasm, quickly moving out of the way to allow the young man in. Pixie seems elated about this update, though Mayumi was unsure how she felt about it. Professor Dimitri was nice enough...but Pixie did get rather excitable and distracted whenever she was around people who were nice enough. Deciding to bury her worries, Mayumi instead waves from her bed and sets her book down. All thoughts of Gabriel’s questions are washed away as she focuses on the present. 

The Professor is a tall, rather thin-looking man with a cleanly shaven appearance and soft, weary-looking blue eyes that looked even wearier at the sight of Pixie. His hair is dark brown, though Mayumi finds what look like thin hairs of a lighter, sandier, color the longer she looks. It’s like they’re playing hide and seek with her, and everytime he moves his head they disappear, only for her to find them again. 

The scratching of a chair against the wooden floor of the room snaps Mayumi back into reality. Pixie has just pulled out a seat from the team’s shared desk for the Professor, and he took it with a nervous tip of his head to the young lady. Pixie grins, finding her seat next to Mayumi and leaning against her, holding her arm. Mayumi pats Pixie, biting her lip with worry. Narcissa surely wouldn’t be having any of this behavior if she were here! Mayumi knew perfectly well that Pixie understood she wasn’t supposed to be acting in a way that would set her apart, and she certainly wasn’t supposed to be craving for anyone. If she decided to act on her urges, well then where would they be? Kicked out. That’s where. Mayumi clung to her companion a bit tighter, silently pleading for her to calm down.

Dimitri waits patiently for the boys to put their stuff away and when everyone has their full attention on him, he clears his throat.

“So, as Professor Port already explained to you in class, your class has been assigned to go on field missions with trained huntsmen, and for your team I will be filling that role. We leave tomorrow, so I wanted to take this time to sit down with you and run over what your plans are, what your expectations are, and if we need to make any last minute adjustments. I wanted to get to know you all on a more personal level, as well, before we go off to fight tomorrow,” he says. Once he’s settled in, Mayumi notes that he falls into a simple and relaxed rhythm and his weary gaze catches some light in it. “So,” he starts, “why don’t you all tell me about your mission?”

Pixie explains the mission in quick, chirpy sentences with the occasional break-in by Gabriel, who either corrects her or adds in any details she missed. Though Mayumi can’t imagine Pixie’s very happy about this, she continues without so much of a glare and instead pours her focus into Dimitri. As the partnered explanation comes to an end, Dimitri nods slowly and catches them all in a stare.

“And I’m sure you’re aware of some of the expectations of this mission.”

“Oh, yes,” Pixie interjects, “no hurting the farmers or their property and crops, Professor Port told us that would deduct points,” she says proudly, beaming at Dimitri as if she now expected a reward for such a keen memory. He rolls over her statement smoothly, only giving her a nod to serve as recognition. 

“Yes, but besides just your assignment, everything you do from the moment you step on that airship all the way until you get back here will be representing Beacon. That includes your ride there, your stay at the hotel, your attitude before and after your mission towards the citizens of Nyma. All of that reflects not only on your team, but also on Beacon. You are our students, so we expect you to act like it. Keep the hotel clean, be nice to the workers, be hospitable. I will simply be there to guide you, however, you must interact and function as if I wasn’t there. The less I have to step in, the better your scores will be,” he calmly explains. “Do any of you have questions?”

The four glance at each other, as if they were searching for any questions on the faces of their teammates. Pixie had been adamant on preplanning, so Mayumi was sure that they all felt much too prepared to have to ask anything now. 

“No, Professor. I believe we’re plenty prepared,” Pixie says with a voice shimmering with confidence.

“You picked a hotel from the school’s database?”

“Of course.”

“Weapon’s ready?”

“Sharp and ready as ever!”

“All packed?”

“What do you take us for, slackers?” Pixie quips, and Dimitri’s expression loosens into a smile. 

“No, I don’t take you for slackers. If that’s all, then I’ll wish you a goodnight. Get some sleep, we leave at 7:00 tomorrow morning, so I expect to see your cheerful faces bright and early. Understood?”

“Understood,” they all echo, some with more enthusiasm than others. Dimitri gives them a curt nod and stands, adjusting the tie around his neck and crossing the room with fluid steps. He carries himself with more confidence than he had with his entrance, and Mayumi hopes he maintains this level with comfort over the next couple days. He was so much more amiable when he was confident with himself. 

With a whisk of his wrist, he paces through the door and it falls closed behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

That night, Mayumi had a dream full of boarbatusks and Pixie, with Pixie standing on their backs and whipping them with her Urumi like slaves. From their backs a crimson river flowed, pooling in the rivets of mud made by their sharp hooves. Pixie’s harsh laughter filled the air, her sweet scent mingling with the blood of the pigs. Their tusks brandished the air as they squealed with fright, and the sound of a frightened Grimm was terrifying in its own right.

She awakes with a start, though the dream breaks apart like clouds after a storm and she can’t hold onto the fragments. Instead, her mind is filled with Pixie’s pink hair and blue eyes as her shrill voice rises to pierce the air like a broken note.

“Are you ready!” she cries, pulling Mayumi up and out of bed, twirling her through the room. Scarcely having time to blink before the barrage, she’s taken aback as Pixie dips her, their faces nearly touching. Pixie’s breath is warm, her lips fluttering with her breath. Being this close is cause for Mayumi’s cheeks to flush with a deep rose.

“U-uh I’m not even out of my pajamas yet,” Mayumi stutters, still getting her bearings. Pixie releases her with a flourish, adjusting the hem of her dress that wrapped around her cleavage, positioning the small blue button of her jacket ever so perfectly on her neck. She was perfectly happy to be out of her uniform, Mayumi could see, and donned in the flashy pink dress and black jacket. Her boots, which she was especially proud of, clung to her long, curved legs wrapping all the way up to her knees as she stomped around the room with them. They had been in their uniform since arriving, with the exception of the day teams had been formed. Even their escapades into the forests surrounding the school had required school uniforms rather than casual clothes or, in the very least, combat gear. If Mayumi was honest with herself, she was quite glad to see Pixie in her combat gear as well.

“Well, hun, then get on with it and get changed! I’m going to wake the others up...oh they’ll be so excited!” she squeals, clasping her hands together with a crisp snap. Mayumi makes her way to the drawer and retrieves her own combat uniform, staring down at the soft gold and brown fabric. She hugs it close and ducks out of the dorm to head to the nearest bathroom.

The morning flew by in a rush, with both Mayumi and her teammates becoming swept up in Pixie’s extravagance. She double checked their bags, personally making sure they all were aptly prepared, checked their weapons, and adjusted everyone’s clothing, much to the boy’s dismay. A pinch or pulling at a collar here, a tug at a sleeve there, insisting that her team must be the sharpest looking team to step foot in Nyma. All this she did between squeals and exclamations of excitement and the swinging of her arms through the air. Only after Pixie had come to the conclusion that they were ready, and  _ only  _ then, did she allow the group of them to fall in line behind her to march to the airships. With a confident stride, Pixie led the group through the school and out into the courtyard.

It’s a chilly morning, now that the summer was breathing her last breaths into Remnant. The breeze blows across Mayumi’s midriff, sending chills over her abdomen and up through her ribs, though the cold across her stomach had stopped bothering her long ago. In fact, she quite liked the midriff now, though that might have something to do with how much Pixie fawned over her whenever she wore it. Always prodding at the collar, or the leather belt that wrapped its way around her waist. Or, at least she used to. Now Pixie’s rather concerned with the other two teammates. While Mayumi feels a sharp pang that she refuses to admit is jealousy whenever Pixie divided her attention, she supposed that if Pixie was happy with their situation, she would just have to be too. 

When they reach the airship, the first few twinges of excitement run up and down Mayumi’s arms and legs, dancing on the tips of her fingers. Through her travels, Mayumi had fought plenty of Grimm but it was never focused on helping people like this one was! No, normally it was based out of survival, or Ivan was worried about some Grimm coming too close to home, though with the way Ivan had the place built she didn’t think that a Grimm would be able to get inside. Nonetheless, this wasn’t about to be a mission about protecting Ivan and his base, this was about keeping someone safe and that pulled at the strings of Mayumi’s heart like a skilled violin player practicing their craft. 

“Oi! I see you rascals made it, hurry up on the airship now, busy day! Busy day!” Dimitri calls, one hand firmly grasping the wall of the airship's yawning mouth, the other urging them inside. Pixie hurries forward, darting like a weasel, or a coyote, to Dimtiri’s side. Mayumi rushes to keep up, her teammates close behind. 

This airship was much smaller than what had brought them into Beacon, but with a more homey, comfortable feel. Well-padded chairs are nailed to the floor around equally grounded tables, and a screen flashes with images of a young woman reciting the news. The smell of leather and lemon air freshener hits Mayumi’s nose strongly, a bit too strongly, and she wrinkles up her nose.

“Hey, Mayumi, you all right? You look like you just took a bite out of a bad apple,” Randy says, falling in line next to her. Mayumi points to her nose, the lines of her mouth creasing with a frown.

“It smells terrible in here,” she mutters with a heavy sigh, already feeling queasy.

“What do you mean? It’s just lemon and new car, it smells kinda nice,” Randy queries.

“Well, maybe for you, but it’s very strong for me, you know…” she twitches the long, dark brown tail and curls it over her leg, casting a bashful glance at it. Randy’s eyes flicker with understanding and he slowly nods. 

“Oh...faunus...wait do you all have strong smells? I mean, no, not strong smells, like, you know what I mean,” he quickly recovers. Amusement flashes in Mayumi’s gaze and she nods, giggling softly. She speaks in a bubbly way, her words floating and bouncing in the air with lovely sweetness.

“No, no. Not all of us, like, a bird faunus probably would have the same exact kind of smell as you, some worse if they had a beak, wouldn’t that be silly?” Mayumi says with a giggle. 

“How would you even eat? I’d feel so bad for a beaked faunus,” he says with a hearty chuckle.

“I don’t know! You’d probably need special food that you don’t have to chew-”

“Mayumi!” Pixie interjects with a sharp yelp. She’s already sprawled out on one of the chairs, her head dangling off the front and her feet rising up to strike the air off of the top of the chair’s back. “Get over here and sit down, we’ll be lifting off soon and I don’t want you walking around!”

“Oh...of course!” Mayumi says quickly, spurred into action she dashes over and quickly finds a seat, a bit too quickly. Her tail pinches behind her sending sharp pain up her spine. With a soft yelp, she adjusts. Pixie snickers.

“You’d think having that tail for your whole damn life you’d know how to sit by now,” Pixie quips, her laughter sharp and quick.

“I...I was in a rush!” Mayumi counters with a pout and readjusts, her tail curling up and over her lap. Her stomach twists as the airship lurches off of the ground and the smell of lemon and leather becomes even more overpowering, if such a thing were possible. 

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The airship ride went by much too fast, but yet much too slowly. They played cards, which Mayumi found to be quite delightful even if she kept losing, and watched the television. First, it was the news, but when that turned to the faunus Pixie deliberately and aggravatedly changed the channel, snapping that the dumb reporter didn’t know what she was talking about and they all best not listen to bullshit like that. However, the comedy that played after was just as delightful as the card games and that put everyone’s mind at ease. By the time they landed, they hardly realized that several hours had passed, and none of them minded that they had lost track of time.

Pixie’s the first to step out of the airship, Mayumi following close behind, grasping her hand to ensure she was the closest one to her. The sun beats down onto the shell of the airship, seeping into the long grass that tickled at the sides of their shoes all the way up to their ankles. 

“It smells like cow shit,” Pixie says, a wide grin peeling across her face. “Don’t that just remind you of our travels? Eh, Mayumi?” she says quietly, dipping low to whisper the last of her words into Mayumi’s ear. Mayumi’s spine locks, suddenly feeling as if the ligaments and tendons in her back had turned as hard as her bones, rendering her immobile. With a sharp slap, Pixie laughs boisterously, cackling like a drunken dog. 

“O-oh yeah, reminds me quite a bit of our travels, another small town, very similar,” Mayumi starts, stumbling over her words. Flashes of light and blood swims in her eyes and her muscles lock, her heart beating wildly in her chest as the feeling of panic that came with that inability to act. “Just like another small town,” she says softly, brushing the palm of her hand against the corner of her eyes.

“Hey! You two, hurry up, you're standing in the way,” Dimitri calls from the mouth of the airship, motioning for them to get a move on. Pixie grabs hold of Mayumi’s arm and yanks, pulling her right up and out of the trance she had stumbled into. 

“Of course Professor! Sorry sir!” she wails like a fawn, pleading for its mother’s attention. Her twittering laughter fills the air as the group begins to move along, taking in the sights of the town.

Pixie was right, it sure did smell like cow manure. Sprawling houses with walls built sturdily from logs and roofs of faded shingling lined a dirt path, which was marred by both animal tracks and the imprints of car wheels. People milled around with baskets full of eggs, vegetables, and other produce clutched in their grasps, bodies wrapped in tunics and faded fabric. The bleating of animals rises and falls in low uluations from distant fields, and Mayumi feels as though she can smell each and every one. In the distance, encircling the village and its farmland, tall walls built from cement with wooden watch towers stood. 

The group ambles though, quietly chatting as they weave past the homes and into the business district where inns and storefronts line the path. Gabriel is buzzing. Though he usually tends to avoid Pixie, now he was washing her with a bombardment of questions about the small town. Were all towns like this? Why weren’t there very many cars? Did people have scrolls here? What was that? Or this? Why did it smell so bad? Pixie laughs softly, an arm draped over his shoulder so that she could answer in hushed tones. Mayumi strained to hear as she explained that yes, most towns were underdeveloped the further from Vale’s capital they were. No, there weren’t many cars. Yes, they had scrolls. This is a well to get water from, and that is where they keep the dust, because unlike Atlas, they didn’t have big storage units. 

When the group arrives at the inn, Pixie leads them to the counter and initiates conversation with the innkeeper. He was a wiry old man with large, round cheeks that were flushed with his own hoarse breath. Mostly bald, grey hairs stuck up all around the crown of his speckled head. When he grins, his face lights up with a pale pink blush and his small, white teeth flash. Sausage-like fingers extend themselves to Pixie for a handshake, and she takes them firmly to reciprocate.

“Oh! You must be the team Pomegranate, P...M...G...ah, and R,” he says as his eyes flash over the group. “You’re here to take care of our Grimm problem, I hear! Those pesky boarbatusks, they root around and sure do cause a big bit of fright. I’m ‘fraid all the ruckus they’ve caused has been attracting all sorts of bigger Grimm, people can’t leave the village much anymore. We lost a hunter just ‘bout a week ago...he went to get himself some venison...never came back. Wasn’t a huntsmen, the poor bloke, no, just wanted some game. It’s been safe to go into the woods for so long, people ain’t used to having Grimm so close,” he says. The group falls into a hush and silence spreads, cracking like static between everyone but Pixie. She simply leans over the counter and flashes her scroll, showing her proof of payment. He nods, gesturing for her to put it away.

“Well of course, people get worked up, and Grimm’ll show up, sure as hell. Well, huntsmen’ll take care of it,” Pixie says, collapsing her scroll and sticking it into the front of her shirt.

“Yes, but we’re all worried, that’s a kicker, we’re all worried ‘cause we’ve got people disappearing and no huntsmen have come to take care of it,” he pleads. His eyes are large, like wet moons. He pats their corners with a kerchief from his breast pocket. “We don’t have any native huntsmen or anyone around here, I’m ‘fraid by the time we get anyone out here, well, all that negativity swimmin’ around will bring even nastier Grimm,” he says, tucking his kerchief away with a quivering hand.

“Awww, well, we came didn’t we?” Pixie chuckles, and the innkeeper’s eyes brighten. “I’m sure someone else will come to take care of the other Grimm, we can’t though, we got orders,” she says with a thin smile, patting the man’s round, soft shoulder. His expression falls and Mayumi watches him struggle to hide his disappointment. “Key?” Pixie asks, extending a pale hand, which is settled at the end of an elegant wrist, curved in all of the perfect places a wrist could curve. 

The innkeeper places the keys in her hands and no sooner than he does, she snatches it and turns, walking away without a second glance back at the innkeepers forlorn look.

The group wanders through the winding halls of the inn, leaving Dimitri behind to take care of his own room key. They hurry up stairs and around corners until they come to the room matching the number on their key. 

“Here we are!” she trills, and with a flick of her wrist she unlocks the door and whisks it open, twirling in through the doorway and flopping onto one of the two beds.

Mayumi follows and the last person to filter in is Gabriel, who quietly takes the key out of the door and shuts it, setting the key on a nightstand by the bed Pixie had claimed. Pixie rolls onto her side and sits up, throwing her arms into the air with a fresh gasp.

“Ah! The smell of freshly cleaned inn beds, just think of how many lonely travelers have had sex or worse on these beds!” she sighs, giggling. 

“Pixie!” Mayumi squeals, embarrassment washing over her and she flushes pink. “That’s foul!”

“Or worse?” asks Randy while Gabriel goes silent, his own face a deeper shade of red than Mayumi’s. 

“I thought inns were for sleeping at...n-not...oh boy,” Gabriel says swallowing heavily, regarding the beds with new caution.

A barkish laugh peels through the air and Pixie leaps up from the bed, wrapping her arms around Gabriel’s neck. He’s immediately smothered by her and the two fall over, Gabriel squealing like a frightened pup.

“Pixie!” he yelps, squirming out from beneath her. “I told you I don’t like being tackled!” he snaps, trying to push her off.

“Awww, come on, it’s funny, plus you’re just so darn cute with all of your...naivety,” she says with a bubbling giggle. 

“You’re ridiculous,” he mutters, brushing off the front of his jacket and adjusting his collar in an attempt to retain the last few shreds of his dignity. Pixie, who had forsaken hers long ago, lays sprawled on the floor.

“You know what would be fun?” she says after a short pause. Her eyes narrow with mischievous intent and her tone drops in a way that was familiar to Mayumi, yet it’s familiarity didn’t stop her from being just as drawn in as the two boys.

“What?” Randy asks in awe.

“You know that Grimm the innkeeper was going on about? Well, tomorrow night after we finish off the boarbatusks, I think that we should take our chances and go on after it, eh? I mean, come on, we’ve been doing such a good job in Forever Fall, Mayumi n’ I know how to take care of a Grimm, we’ve gotten rid of a few monstrosities ourselves…” Her tone is slow and methodical, one that trails off the edges of its vowels and dips into a low hush, so low that you have to bring your ears closer to the speaker’s lips to hear. So low, that the three of them were sitting with their legs crossed around Pixie’s head as she ushers them to her level. Whispering into their ears, she fabricates her plan, a grand plan, the kind of plan that should only ever be hatched in the quiet, buzzing darkness of an innhouse.

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The ground is soft beneath Mayumi’s feet as they trek quietly through the hushed forest as if they were frightened to disturb it’s tranquility. Mayumi understood, though, that her teammates were not afraid, or at least if they were they weren’t thinking about their fear. They were stalking the forest for Grimm, attempting to sneak around the backside of the farmer’s plot to ambush the boarbatusks rooting around within the fields. It was impossible to sneak up on a Grimm if you were afraid, and that was something she knew and understood well before ever enrolling in Beacon. 

Mayumi weaves through the shadows, playing a game to find shapes in the criss-crossing patterns of light and dark made by the thin sun fighting its way through the thick branches above. A snake, or a rabbit, or even a usra, quiver against the leaf litter. The cute shapes were her favorite, like the rabbit. She could just imagine its little nose and tail twitching as it tips its little head back to say hello. 

_ Why hello there, little bunny!  _ Mayumi would call back if the bunny was real. Maybe then it would be her friend, she would quite like to have a bunny friend. 

An elbow juts into her ribs and she quickly turns to see Pixie flashing hand signals. She was telling Gabriel to hang back, and Randy to move ahead. They were going to do a pretty simple flanking maneuver, as she had explained to them that morning, where Randy and Gabriel take the sides and Mayumi and Pixie would cut through the center of the field and loop around. As they came in against Mayumi and Pixie, Randy and Gabriel would come in from the edges of the field. They had gone over this plan several times, explained it to the Professor, who approved it, and now it was time to put it into action. 

Pixie and Mayumi wait until Randy’s head disappears into the thick greenery ahead and then some before they start moving again. He had to reach his spot just about the same time that they reached theirs. This really wasn’t a mission on a time crunch, but Pixie wanted it to be good and over with so that they could have plenty of time to spend in town before tonight, when the real mission would begin. 

“Come on, he should be far enough ahead,” Pixie whispers so quietly Mayumi has to strain to hear it, even with Pixie’s lips just about brushing against her ear. They move on, their steps slow and methodical as they weave through the brush. Mayumi dances around the vines trying to tangle around her ankles, moving with graceful swiftness.

They push forward until, apparently on a whim, Pixie stops and holds her arm out to signal that Mayumi do the same. It’s no whim, however. Pixie tips her head back and inhales sharply and Mayumi knows that she’s pulling in the scents of the forest and the crop field, listening to the whistling of the wind and how it changes as it breaches the tree line and flows over the more barren field. From this, she knew what Mayumi was just now deducing. They were right between the two edges of the farmers corn field, now the only thing they needed was the message from Randy. Mayumi pulls out her scroll, watching it with childish anticipation. The scroll vibrates. 

_ Ready! _

Within seconds, the two girls were off. Streamers through the trees, birds diving after prey, wolves snapping at the heels of an elk. Predators. Wind streams through the sensitive hairs of Mayumi’s tail and Pixie gnashes her teeth, a low growl in her throat as the break the treeline, bursting into the cornfield. Stalks quiver, tall and gold above the girl’s heads, closing up over them. Pixie lets out a howl and from all around the squeals of blood thirsty pigs rise into the air in a chorus, a deafeningly beautiful chorus crashing against the stillness of the night. A stillness shattered as tusks fall upon them, crashing past the towering plants. 

Mayumi’s swords slash up through the chest cavity of one of the creatures. She rips the sword out, casting the Grimm’s body aside. The ground around them was suddenly alive, swarming with the stomping hooves and the muscular, dark backs of boarbatusks. Mayumi leaps up, smashing down on the spine of one and slashing her sword through another’s jaw as it leaps at her. There’s a crack and spurt of red and then she’s off like a bullet, small and brown and flashing as she weaves through the stalks. 

From the side, a flash of blue lights up the shadows and Gabriel shouts, sending a strong, glowing, fist through the ribs of a Grimm. It flies away from Mayumi, falling into a crumpled pile showered with pieces of corn. It kicks a leg, then falls still. A light beams through the stalks from Randy’s palm, mistakenly shooting clean through it before blasting the haunches of a Grimm. Steam rises and the air thickens with it.

Mayumi doesn’t waste a moment watching the fell Grimm. Leaping back into the fray, she ducks and twirls, spins and twists, her body flowing like water as she weaves among sharp tusks and dances atop the rising voices of the Grimm. Somersaulting, she drives a sword through one’s throat with lethal accuracy. She moves with the deadly grace of water, powered by a force just as strong, yet just as nimble. Twist, flick, a splatter, and after enough of this she and her team realize the silence of the clearing. The steam rises from the bones like a quiet mist falling over a swamp tickling Mayumi’s skin. Her breath comes heavily, softening only once the fact that it was no longer dangerous settles within her mind. Pixie’s laugh breaks the silence.

“Aw, now wasn’t that an old fashioned work out! Come on, let’s comb through for stragglers and get back to Dimitri, I wanna go see what this little village has to offer,” she says. Her hips sway to and fro as she walks, as if there is a private melody that moved her to do so. Mayumi hurries after her, clutching her hand that was still warm from the fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have another question for all the people who are reading my stuff for some reason! 
> 
> What's your favorite chapter so far? I'd love to hear what it is and why!


	10. Chapter 10

“So you really killed them all that fast?” the professor queries, unable to hide his surprise. “That was barely an hour.”

The group sits quietly at a heavy wooden table in the farmer’s kitchen. The wood was roughed from use, though Mayumi suspected that at one point it had been cleanly painted. There were shelves, also wood, haphazardly stuck onto the wall in every which area, seemingly random and added as needed. Clay pots holding water, strong-smelling juice, and nothing at all were settling among these shelves with baskets of food to create an aroma that Mayumi would have found pleasant if she wasn’t so hungry. It was the bread cooking in the oven, though, that really fueled Mayumi’s hunger. She glances between her teammates. Pixie is seated between her and Gabriel and an arm draped over each of their shoulders while Randy is out of her reach and slouching in a chair, partially paying attention. 

“Of course Professor, if there was anything in that field when we were there, it sure as hell is dead. I would have brought back more bones, but he just wanted that there skull,” Pixie explains roughly, nodding to the skull that sat on the table like a centerpiece. By now it had cooled and there was no flesh left clinging to the bones, even if the faint smell of death still clung to it. 

“Well-” the professor starts.

“Well we’ll just have to thank you!” the farmer exclaims, rushing forwards to extend a thick hand to Pixie. “I can’t tell ya how happy we are here, just elated, that those there Grimm’r takin’ care of!” he says. He reminds Mayumi and awfully lot of a pig with his round, squashed face, big hands, and voice that rose like a squeal. 

“Of course, that’s just what we do,” Pixie says through a wrinkled lip that she’s just barely able to mold into a smile. The man pays no heed to Pixie’s apparent dislike and moves through the rest of the team giving them mighty slaps on their backs and shaking their hands enthusiastically. 

“Well, how long’ll you be in town? Surely you’ll be here for the big ‘ole party that we be havin’. Now that the Grimm are gone, we’re gonna be celebrating and celebrating! You’ll be here for that, won’t ya?” 

“Yes, yes of course. In fact, I think that they’re going to go get ready right about now,” Dimitri interjects, motioning for the students to stand. They eagerly follow suit, Mayumi wiping the sweat the man’s handshake had left on her hands onto her shorts. With a sharp whistle, Dimitri leads them from the small, dusty kitchen and into the outside. The farmer follows and waves to them as they go.

Once they have left the small farm behind them Pixie groans loudly, dramatically swooning the air.

“I swear! Some people don’t know a thing about personal hygiene!” she exclaims. Dimitri sends her a hard look to which she sticks out her tongue.

“That is no way to talk about someone who's paying you, Pixie. You have to learn to be nice to your clients. He gave you the opportunity to come and exterminate the Grimm here, you ‘ought to be respectful,” Dimitri quietly scolds.

“Whatever, you can’t tell me he wasn’t an absolute mess,” Pixie says lazily. 

Dimitri doesn’t respond and Pixie snickers. The group travels onward down a tree-lined path that stretches between them and the main town. The road winds like a snake, weaving it’s dark back between stumps and bushes to create a hard and unnatural barrier. Behind Mayumi, Gabriel was muttering curses under his breath in a thin and windy manner as vines snagged on his ankles.

“Pick your feet up,” Pixie says, as she’s hearing Gabriel’s complaints just the same as Mayumi.

“I am!”  
“If you were, ya wouldn’t be tripping on yourself. Seriously, don’t they have vines in Atlas?” she snaps. She cocks her head like a bird to better see Gabriel with a snicker. 

“As a matter of fact, they do not! There is ice and cold and snow. No vines!” he responds tightly. He trudges forward and soon each of his steps are angry stomps, knees arcing high into the air. He looks absolutely ridiculous to Mayumi with his high steps giving him the appearance of a storc wading through high water, spindly legs and all. 

“You look stupid,” Pixie teases.

“I am _picking_ _my feet up_!” 

“Pick them up less, sweetheart. Or just, watch the ground so you know where all the vines are. You look stupid,” she offers. There’s a thin smile on Dimitri’s lips, a light in his eyes that tells Mayumi he’s enjoying their company. 

The banter between Pixie and Gabriel continues until Gabriel finally figures out how to walk in the weeds. Without the arguing they fall into silence until they reach town. Once there, the bustle of life washes over them. It’s noon and the town streets are full of people meandering through the streets. Their voices rise sharply into the air and strike through the air like sparrows. Up and down, twisting and turning like the little birds. Mayumi feels a smile, almost of its own volition, creep onto her face.

“Are you ready for a party, baby doll?” Pixie says with a tight squeeze of Mayumi’s shoulders. With that hot breath down her neck and beading on her shoulder like dew, Mayumi nods. 

“Oh yes, Pixie. I can’t wait!” she says cheerfully as her smile suddenly has to be forced. 

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When the group starts out from the Inn later that night Mayumi can’t help but feel her heart flutter. Above their heads is a dying sun casts the darkening sky in pale violets and oranges. The colors appear to be thickly applied streaks of paint dripping from the tips of a horse-haired brush. The sun looks like a water-colored egg, the edges blurred as they bleed into the pale colors of the surrounding sky. Mayumi’s breath catches in her throat like a dove gone faint, though a hand on her shoulder brings her back and awakens her lungs so that she can breath again.

“It sure is pretty, ain’t it?” Pixie says.

“It’s  _ beautiful! _ ” Mayumi gasps. They spend a few moments staring up at the sky, allowing the colors to reflect across their skins and the lenses of their eyes. They do not linger for too long, however, and soon they move on further into the village where the sounds were too enticing to ignore. People were shouting and hollering in voices pinched with contagious joy. The smell of pork roasting over an open fire filled the village and overpowered the smell of manure and chopped hay, to which Mayumi was grateful. All around her was a comforting warmth that seeped into all of her senses, from the pores of her skin to the delicate surface of her eardrums and the sensitive regions of her nose. It was a truly comforting warmth that seeped into one’s core and settled there, like a heavy stone. 

“What’s that smell?”  
“Pig!” Pixie chirps in a sharp response to Gabriel. She places a hand on the alluring curve of her hip and grins mischievously. 

“Yeah, I read about this once. When there’s a Grimm killed in little villages like this, they usually find some animal that looks like the Grimm and slaughter it for a feast. Like, they’ll kill a wolf or a dog after a beowolf is killed, or in this case a pig for a boarbatusk,” Randy adds. Gabriel’s eyes widen with shock and he covers his mouth as though he’s holding back a gag.

“They kill  _ dogs _ ?” he cries.

“Well… I don’t know if  _ this  _ village doe-”

“What does it matter if they do, sweetheart? Meat is meat! People are so weird about that sometimes. Doesn’t matter what it looks like before it’s killed if it tastes good, now does it?”

“I’d beg to differ,” Gabriel snaps crossly.

Pixie rolls her eyes and the subject is dropped just in time for them to pass by a booth selling beaded bracelets. The beads are a polished wood that gleams pale in the low light. When Mayumi looks at them with her eyes squinted she can pretend they are the same color as the sunset casting light and shadows down onto them. Pixie’s slender hand reaches over her and grabs one of them, squinting her bright eyes as she brings the bracelet under scrutiny. 

“What kind of wood are these?” she asks in a stern tone.

“Birch,” the shopkeeper responds softly. Before them is a tiny woman with a permanent squint and a tall bundle of hair haphazardly held up onto her head with a fish net. Despite her soft deposition, the lines creasing her face and hands like canyons told a harsher story and the gleam in her eyes held them to a respectful silence. She gestures airily to the other assembled bracelets, her breath a rough wheeze. 

“There is also oak. Maple. Hickory. I have a few made from osso,” she murmurs in a low warble. 

“Osso?” Randy asks, eyeing up the different bracelets.

“Grim bones,” Mayumi explains in a hushed whisper.

“Well, we’ll take four made from those Grimm bones, then. Are those painted?”

“Mmhm, red and black. Some of my best efforts,” the old woman responds. She turns around and disappears further into her booth as a colorful embroidered curtain falls across her back. After some shuffling from within she reappears with the gleaming white bracelets. There are delicate designs reminiscent of a Grimm’s curved markings and gleaming red paint creates the illusion of eyes staring up from the surface.

“They’re gorgeous!” Pixie squeals. 

“I’m glad you think so,” the woman muses with a thin smile. Her lips are cracked and have the worn appearance of leather. With a pinching of her tired cheeks her smile broadens and she extends a hand holding the bracelets. “That’ll be 2,000 lien.”

“Of course, ya really should charge more. Only 500 lien a piece? That’s real cheap for Grimm bones. Those ain’t what you’d call easy to obtain,” Pixie says. 

“You’d know, little huntress, wouldn’t you?” the old woman quips back as Pixie hands over several thin polymer notes to the woman, who takes them eagerly and drops the bracelets into the smooth surface of Pixie’s palm. 

“That I would,” Pixie says with a wink. With that the group turns away to walk deeper into the festival.

Over the next few hours the group travels throughout several more booths, though none of the rest have nearly as memorable hosts as the booth selling bracelets. Pixie buys up much more than necessary, snagging frivolous jewelry made from brightly colored beads and blown glass. A necklace with a precious stone stained pink that hangs on a pale silver chain is her favorite and she frequently holds it up to the sunlight to watch it shimmer in the sunset’s colors. They eat snacks, Pixie snagging a roasted squirrel which she prompts Randy to try and purchase one of his own. Mayumi quietly turns it down as even the smell of the red meat makes her sick, and instead tries the village's freshwater fish kabobs with Gabriel. With the taste of flames on their tongues they continue listening to the rising boom of the music. 

It’s at the height of the music that  _ it  _ happens. Pixie suddenly stops and tips her head back dramatically, holding her arms out to stop the group. A low bubbling giggle starts low in her chest sending fear into Mayumi’s own internal cavities. Her giggle rises into a howl that matches the sharp pitches of the music and suddenly Mayumi realizes she’s not the only one who's shouting. Whoops and hollers weave their way into the music, following the same deep, thrumming rhythm of the drums and guitars.

“Look!” Mayumi whispers, reaching out instinctively to the nearest wrist, snagging Gabriel’s as she feels a burning need well up within her to find concrete evidence in the validation of another’s reaction.

“Huh, what’s with all the yelling? Is this a- oh. Wow,” he murmurs as his hazel eyes lock on the hundreds of lanterns that are outshining the very stars. 

They swirl in a lazy sort of way, drifting with the gentle stirrings of the night air. The moon was large and pale, like a painted woman’s shattered face, behind their winking lights. With the gentle bobbing of their heads they cast gentle pinks, purples, oranges, and reds across the assembled. The light that catches in their eyes and scatters designs upon their hair. It’s as if Mayumi can feel the warmth from the lantern's flames against her own skin. It tickles her and seems to bleed straight through the paper holding it in the air. 

“Welcome to a Festival of Death,” Pixie utters softly, gesturing to the lights above. “Now let’s go eat some pig, eh?” she says with a chuckle.

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Later that night someone violently shakes Mayumi’s shoulder until her eyes blearily blink open. The room is cast in shadowed darkness with only thin light coming in through the curtains. 

“Psst! Mayumi, oh you oaf, get up! We’ve got a Grimm to kill!” Pixies hisses, casting spit on Mayumi’s neck. Mayumi pushes herself up with a start and smacks foreheads with her friend, squealing in shock. 

“Shh! Shut up! This is a stealth mission, fucking hell!” Pixie snaps. She gestures sharply for Mayumi to stand and Mayumi obeys, this time in silence. The two quickly get dressed and then Pixie wakes the boys in a similar fashion. Soon, the entire group is heading out the door fashioned in battle gear with weapons bumping softly against their bodies. Pixie heads the pack as she slinks through the halls like a prowling housecat looking for mischief. Her craving for the unruliness of night is painted so clearly on her face that Mayumi could imagine her drooling with hunger.

“Why are we doing this again?” Gabriel whines. This earns him a sharp growl from Pixie and she raises her hand threateningly only to catch herself just before striking. She takes a moment to close her eyes and recollect herself, pulling her lips into a tight smile that loosens as she speaks.

“Because,  _ sweetheart,  _ when we kill the fucker we’ll look good! Dimitri will like us, and we’ll get extra credit. Plus, I have a soft spot in my heart for villages like this. Wanna help them out, don’t you?” she oozes. In the dark shadows of the inn Mayumi hears the distant screams echoing from the lips of ghosts of the past that call out Pixie’s lies and she quickly silences them. She doesn’t do so quickly enough and feels her limbs lock and her spine turning to ice.

“Yeah… I guess,” Gabriel responds and he reluctantly follows. Mayumi, however, finds herself unable to continue after her group.

“Mayumi, hurry up!” Pixie hisses. She lunges and snags Mayumi to pull her along. Pixie weaves through the halls with her team in toe, leading the group into the moonlight. In the distance, the trees rustle and a low growl stirs the stillness of the night.


	11. Chapter 11

“Mmhm, yeah. Yes Port. Yeah, I think we’re gonna stay another day. There’s another Grimm here and I’d like to help them tackle it. Yes. Yes Port. I know it’s late to be calling but I spent most of the night thinking. Yes. I understand. Of course. I think I’m going to tell them now.”

Dimitri collapses his scroll and pushes himself up off of his bed. There’s a new exuberance in his muscles and pride wells up in his chest. How great it would be when he came back and told Ozpin about the success of his pupils! In the classroom they had shown competence, but now they are showing an advanced ability to work in the field, despite Dimitri’s misgivings. Pixie, that frightful head of the pack, is even behaving! He had been expecting her to cause a ruckus, though she had proven him wrong by placing her best foot forward! With pride blooming in his chest, he snags his coat and pulls it over his thin sleepwear and heads out.

The hallway is cast in shadows as the inn’s lights have all been flickered out. Though the walls were dark, he could tell they were a pale blue color with coral accents. In his good mood he takes the time to appreciate the brightness of these colors. Finds them lovely, even.The shadows, of which he would have normally ignored, make playful creatures running up and down the walls with a giddiness that fed from his own. 

Within a few steps he’s at the students door, only to see that it’s hanging open about half an inch. His heart stops and the playful joy slowly melts into confusion. On instinct he gives the scene a double take. He runs through the possibilities in his head to explain the door’s ajar state. Perhaps they had just opened the door for temperature adjustment, or maybe one of them had gone for a walk and forgot to close the door upon their return. He slowly pulls the door the rest of the way open, finding the two beds empty and pajamas strewn across the room. Their weapons and battle gear were nowhere to be found. That is it, the final nail in the coffin that releases a roiling storm of emotions. 

“Damnit!” he growls through gritted teeth. He turns on his heel and whisks himself out the door with eyes blazing. 

Dimitri storms down the stairs into the lobby. Slouched in a chair is the innkeeper, his cheeks just as rosy as before. On the counter in front of him is a pint of half-drunk ale held in a dark wood cup. 

“Hey! Hey, wake up!” Dimitri shouts. When the innkeeper seems impervious to his voice, Dimitri carefully, but firmly, shakes him.

“W-w...what? Oh! Oh it’s you!” the old man chuckles, his cheeks getting rosier. “Well, you just missed yer kids! What...oh you look so worked up, somethin’ the matter?”

“What do you mean I just missed the kids? Where’d they go?”  
“Well, they went off to fight that Grimm! Said you told them that was ok after all…well...now I’m startin’ to doubt that seein’ the mess you in,” he says as his expression falls. Dimitri firmly places his hands on the counter and leans closer.

“Yeah, they sure weren’t given permission to kill the Grimm. Now tell me: where exactly is this Grimm?” 

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The world around Mayumi spins as her back crashes into the rough trunk of a nearby tree. She lurches up with a jerk. All around her are the spindly-white fragments of webs with ends clinging desperately to the quivering branches. Settled in the middle is a hulking creature with long, black legs coated in a thick spindly layer of hair. It’s a disgusting sight, one that sets Mayumi off at even just a glance. The way the barbs decorating the Grimm’s eight legs shake with it’s every movement reminds her of quivering fangs, loose in their sockets but ready to snap over her throat at a moment’s notice. The rumbling from the creature’s mandibles is only matched in intensity by the shrieking laughter of Pixie as she dances on it’s back, swords lashing like brilliant streaks of lightning caught fire.

“Mayumi! Are you alright?” Randy asks with a glance her way. The steady rat-tat of his gun falls quiet for a moment while she responds.

“Yes! I-I’m ok!” Mayumi shoots back before leaping back into the fray.

She weaves swiftly through the giant stalks, webs catching on her hair and skin. The silky substance feels like fingers groping her face and arms, as if it understood her malevolent intentions against its creator. She flicks her wrist and the segmented metal of her swords unlock and lax, wrapping around one of the creature's great limbs. With a graceful swing, she swiftly moves beneath its belly. She flickers like a bat dipping between the moon’s shadows with only one thing on her mind: the inner joints of the Grimm’s eight legs. With this, she releases her swing and slashes straight through one of her targets. 

Immediately the air splits with a shriek. With her next attempt to swing herself she finds another leg in her way and it bats her aside. Pain sears through her back as the spines slam into her. 

“Mayumi!”  
Gabriel grabs her ankle and twists, throwing her back into the fight. Within the split second between his fingers curling around her stockings and releasing she regains her bearings. She flies forwards right under the Grimm’s belly. Her limbs become lightning, her body as smoothly flowing as water and light as air.

Like a ping-pong ball, she snaps between the heavy-set pillars. The heat from Randy lights the clearing with brightly colored beams, filling it with warmth. The creature roars and lunges for Randy with snapping jaws. With a panicked gaze Mayumi lunges, her swords skimming the creature's leg. She’s not fast enough.

The Grimm’s mandibles enclose around Randy and a pale yellow shimmer encases his body. With the last of his strength, he cuts through one of the mandibles with his sword, tumbling onto the ground. Here he lays, unable to move as he weekly attempts to lift his head and prepare for another attack.

_ Bang. _

A bullet passes her and lodges in the Grimm’s throat, bursting into flame.Mayumi’s heart stops, relief slowly spreading through her limbs and allowing them to move. She rushes to Randy’s side. He had pushed himself into a sitting up position. Mayumi offers her shoulder and the two both stand, approaching Dimitri and their other teammates. 

He brushes himself off and coughs. In his eyes, Mayumi sees a simmering heat greater than that from the dust. 

“Enjoying your little outing?”

Mayumi turns to meet Dimitri’s gaze. Pixie opens her mouth to speak, a cocky look beaming in her eyes. Dimitri cuts in before she even has the chance to speak.

“Be quiet, Pixie, you’ve gotten your team in enough trouble. Was this your idea?”

“No, clearly it was Mayumi’s.” Pixie says with a lazy rolling of her eyes. Her brightly painted nails rest on her hip, which juts out to the side with smug contempt. Her eyes, Mayumi notices, are filled to the brim with confused fury. 

“Come on, we have a hotel to get back to-- Give me Randy, I’ll help him walk. Do you guys realize how dangerous this was? I had every intention of giving you all extra credit, but now I’ll be docking your grades and you’ll all be serving a detention!”

Mayumi passes Randy off towards Dimitri, and no sooner does this happen Pixie snaps her fingers over Mayumi’s wrist. Without care, Pixie pulls the young girl along the path with unnecessary cruelty in her grip. 

“Hey, calm down Pixie, it won’t be that big of a deal. Our grades aren’t that bad-” Gabriel starts.

“Shut your mouth!” she snaps vilely, turning to face him with burning eyes. With her lips upturned into a snarl and sharpened teeth bared she takes the appearance of a jackal, or perhaps a hyena. If her hair were more unkempt there would be no difference between her expression and that of a wild animal. Gabriel’s eyes flicker and he falls silent. 

“Pixie, mind your temper!” 

The entire ensemble falls silent. While some are keeping quiet to mind their tempers, others are kept into a stunned hush out of fear.

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“Unthankful, ungrateful! We almost had it! Sure it wasn’t with code, but you’d think he’d be proud! No one got hurt!” Pixie roars. She had been ravaging the air with her words since Dimitri had left to figure out their airship situation. Pixie snags another piece of clothing from her bed and shoves it into her bag, teeth bared. 

“Well… Mayumi was thrown around a lot and I think Randy did get hurt-” starts Gabriel.

“Oh, shut your fucking mouth, Atlesian floater!” Pixie shouts. 

“Pixie it’s not that big of a deal! You don’t need to yell at him!” Randy says, standing from his bedside. He was leaning against the wall, having regained some strength, and aura, since their fight.

“Would you rather I yell at you?” 

“T-that’s not what I meant-”

“It’s what was implied. Sit your ass down,” Pixie hisses. Mayumi quietly works on packing her bag, taking an unreasonably long time to fold her clothes and put it into her suitcase. Her chest is knotted into a tight coiling serpent. She bites her tongue and allows the tourent of harsh words to swarm them. Pixie’s voice assaults her ears like bees, their stingers latching right into her brain. Yet..watching Pixie hound the boys tore at her heart and hurt her more than Pixie’s words would, should they be redirected. She knew she would only have to say something small, anything, really for Pixie to turn her attention towards Mayumi.

“P-Pixie why don’t we sit down...and get everything put away…”

“What? You think you should be talking? Huh? This is your fault, anyways! And you think you deserve to calm me down? Just- just shut up!” she shrieks. 

“It wasn’t her fault! It was your idea,” Randy argues. PIxie’s glare stops any other words he had planned to say and Mayumi felt her heart flicker. Couldn’t they just let her take the fall and leave themselves out of it? She finds her way around the bed and to Pixie’s side, gently reaching out towards her. 

“Pixie, please. D-don’t yell at them. It’s not their fault you're angry,” Mayumi quietly peeps. Her fingers busy themselves with the buttons of her pajama top to alleviate her nervousness, to no avail. 

“You’re right- it’s your fault!” Pixie shouts. Spit flies from the sharp edges of her teeth. Her breath bleeds over Mayumi’s face. Her companion leans closer until Mayumi can see the finite details of her irises and each and every angry line in her scowl. Her teeth shine white and ravenous. Her breasts heave with each broken, ravaged breath. There are tears in Pixie’s eyes, and seeing this Mayumi feels her fear drain away and become replaced with pity. 

“Pixie…”

Pixie grabs handfuls of her cotton-candy hair and tugs, causing the colorful strands to strain at the roots. Mayumi places a slender hand on Pixie’s shoulder and gently strokes the girl’s hair with her other, easily pushing Pixie’s hands out of her hair. 

“P-please don’t hurt yourself like that. I’m sorry, it’s all my fault and I’ll do better next time, just please don’t hurt yourself like that. Don’t pull your hair. You don’t need to be so angry…” Mayumi soothes. The room falls away and Mayumi finds herself standing in a small space where only Pixie and her exist. Pixie wraps her arms around Mayumi’s neck and squeezes her, a tight embrace that feels smothering. Though calm, Mayumi can’t help but feel sharp pangs of guilt. Perhaps it was her fault, surely if she had acted to stop Pixie from hatching such a plan none of this would have happened. Pixie wouldn’t be so upset. 

“Here, why don’t we get some rest, ok?” Mayumi murmurs. Pixie slowly nods and lifts her head from Mayumi’s shoulder. Her eyes catch the boys, bleary and tear-filled, and she glares. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm so sorry this chapter took such a long time to get up, I got a new beta and wanted to let them catch up before working on new chapters and posting this one! Big thank you to my new beta, her username on here is Appliciousness  
>  so check her out, she has a really cool Harry Potter fic!!
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you thought in the comments! Hope you enjoyed it! <3


	12. Chapter 12

Pixie and Narcissa walk through the streets of Vale. The tall, stone buildings rise on either side of them. People mull about outside exchanging words, many carrying bags filled with items they purchased on their own leisurely stroll. 

“So how’d the mission go?” Narcissa asks. 

When Pixie responds with a rolling of her eyes Narcissa follows up with a chuckle. “I suspect you got a bit out of hand? I told you to behave,” Narcissa murmurs. 

“I did! I did behave, well, I didn’t do anything like  _ that _ !” Pixie exclaims. “It’s not like I killed someone, come on, you think I’d go and blow our cover that fast? Ivan would hate me for it, you know that. And I.. I really don’t like thinkin’ about Ivan hatin’ me.”

“Then what  _ did  _ happen?” Narcissa asks smoothly, cutting a sharp glare towards Pixie. 

Pixie winkles her nose, momentarily baring her fangs before she starts to speak. 

“Well, we took care of the boarbatusks, just like we were supposed to. There was another Grimm, though, and I thought, well, Mayumi and I, hell we’ve fought actual huntsmen before, not to mention all sorts of other Grimm. Maybe it would be…you know...impressive if we went and took care of it. And I thought it would be even better if it was a surprise, I mean come on, Dimitri would be happy! An entire Grimm laid out like that, sure we went behind his back, but I thought he’d be grateful,” Pixie explains. 

Her explanation is met with a long silence and Narcissa’s side-long glare. Narcissa places a hand on her forehead. Shaking her head, she murmurs a swear under her breath. 

“So...you broke school rules thinking that would impress one of the teachers?” Narcissa snarled. “What did I say about not bringing attention to ourselves! Impress them, yes, but by being good in class!  _ Doing what you’re told.  _ Not going off on secret missions! What if those two boys had gotten hurt, hmm? Or Mayumi, what if something went wrong and Mayumi got hurt. Ivan would be pissed!”

“She wouldn’t have gotten hurt, you know that. You act like the girls are  _ so _ helpless, you sure as hell know they aren’t. They’ve killed just as much as we have, we ain’t gotta worry about them,” Pixie retorts. 

“That doesn’t mean we can throw them into danger, and my original point still stands! You can’t set us apart like that, now the teachers will all be watching you and your team for shit like this to happen again. You don’t use your head, at least you don’t use it to see sense. Ivan should have kept you back home,” Narcissa spits. Pixie curls her lip and, for a moment, anger flashes in her gaze. But then she giggles. A smile peels across her face and she nudges Narcissa’s side. 

“You know Ivan doesn’t make mistakes, I’m here for a reason,” she says with a snicker. Narcissa doesn’t respond. The two continue down the path in silence, people weaving around them. The soft footfalls padder all around Pixie, paired with the breaths of the people milling about. It gives her something to focus on outside of Narcissa’s anger, not that it really bothers her. Ivan has his reasons, she was sure. He was a smart man, cunning and sharp witted. He wouldn’t have sent her as a mistake, there was no way. 

“Anyways, I didn’t just want to yell at you. We have something to discuss: our plan of attack. Now, Ivan left this up to us to decide after we had been in Beacon a bit. It’s been a few weeks, so I say I’ve been exploring the school enough to have an idea of what we’re going to do,” Narcissa starts. “You have detention for your slip up, but after that’s been served we’ll start the first phase of our mission. First things first, I’ll have to get into the CTT tower. I have to figure out a digital blueprint to help Ivan and Echo with the virus, and you still need to get a blueprint of the school so Ivan can figure out where the hell this vault is. Approximately, at least,” Narcissa explains. She slaps Pixie’s arm, grunting with exasperation. “Are you listening?”

“Yeah! Yeah, miss stick-in-the-ass, I’m listening! CTT tower, blueprints, I missed the part where you told me  _ how  _ we’re going to do all that,” Pixie shoots back. 

“Well, for my part, I’m going to simply go in like I’m making a call. A day when it’s nice and crowded, sit down and log in. Once I do that, I’ll do some things you can’t understand, and get in. I don’t need to do anything once I’m there, I just have to take a good look around. See what kind of system they have, what kind of barriers the CTT has that a virus would have to bypass. You don’t have to worry too much about my part, all you have to do is get close with the janitor. He keeps the blueprints in his room, I found this out when chatting around. As far as I can tell, he’ll be easy for you to… _ interact with, _ ” Narcissa says with a sneer. 

“I thought you said I wasn’t allowed to fool around with staff,” Pixie giggles. Narcissa ignores her, moving swiftly to her next point. 

“Anyways, I want you to make sure when you meet with Professor Ozpin to receive your punishment, you get him to land you in janitorial duty, otherwise? Suddenly become interested in toilets and offer to help him clean. You aren’t below that. Absolutely shameless,” Narcissa says. 

“Hey, quit acting all high and mighty, like you haven’t benefited from my shamelessness.” Pixie giggles, wrapping her arm around Narcissa’s waist and pulling the woman closer, bumping her hip against her friend’s. “Remember all those times I got you little tid-bits of information… people get quite loose-lipped when a pretty girl is batting her eyes at them, you know that. I know that, Ivan knows that. You can’t even pretend that you hate me for what I do,” Pixie sneers. 

“Hmph,” Narcissa crosses her arms over her chest, glancing away uneasily.

“Aww, are you jealous? I can flirt with you, too, sweetheart,” Pixie cooes. The reaction this spurs from Narcissa is immediate. She sputters, shouldering her way out of Pixie’s grip. There’s a wild look in her eyes, aghast at Pixie’s boldness. 

“Jealous? Jealous! No such thing. I don’t have time for this, we- we have a mission to get to!” Narcissa shoots back, eyes narrowing with anger. Pixie hangs back, staring at her with a wide, goofy grin. 

“Sure thing, sweetheart. Let’s get back to that mission,” Pixie responds with a chuckle. She lingers on the sidewalk, staring after Narcissa as she starts to storm off. After only a few moments, she hurries to catch up. 

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“As you walk through the darkening woods, ten miles away from the next bandit encampment, you begin to notice the usual noise and bustle of the forest has nearly completely ceased, leaving only the sounds of your feet crunching the leaves below to break the silence. There are no bird calls, no squirrel chatter. Not even the squeak of a mouse can be heard in the underbrush. You begin to think that you and your party are all alone in the woods-” Clover pauses, rolling a dice across the library table. It settles, an eight staring up at the assembled group. Mayumi and Vira exchange glances, but remain utterly silent. This game, which was something Clover had decided to introduce them all to, was confusing. At least, to Mayumi it was, and therefore she had decided to sit in silence and allow things to take its course, only acting when Clover requested her to. Afterall, he seemed to know what the eight on the dice meant, and she had no clue the importance of it, or what it meant. Her thoughts didn’t even have time to wander, however, as Clover picked up where he left off almost immediately.

“That is, until a shadow falls over you. Above your head, a large creature with angled wings swoops past the party. The leaves above you tremble with a powerful gust of wind, but despite how big it seemed, you aren’t able to get a good, clear look at it. You travel onwards with your mission in mind-”  
“Oh, Clover, are there flowers?” Mayumi blurts. Clover had told her the importance of visualizing everything he said, and to ask questions if he wasn’t descriptive enough. How silly of him, forgetting to tell her what kind of flowers grew in the forest he was making her walk though.

“Excuse me?” he responds, brows creasing.

“Are there flowers! Woods usually have flowers. What kind? Oh, what color are they?” Mayumi says, eyes widening.  
“Yes. Yes, there’s flowers. Um...they are purple, and yellow. And...orange, I guess. Lots of flowers. Anyways, you travel onwa-”

“Do they smell good? I heard some flowers smell bad,” Vira adds, glancing over at Clover with an intense stare. “If they smell bad, I don’t want to pick them,” Vira adds.

“Why are you picking the flowers? You have a mission to defeat bandits! They are- they’re ten miles out, don’t you want to complete your mission? Help the poor people they are robbing? Stop all the pillaging?” Clover says, exasperated and sputtering. 

“Well, yeah. But wouldn’t it be nice if we brought them some flowers? After all the pillaging they might want a boquette,” Mayumi argues, narrowing her eyes at Clover. “Answer Vira! What do they smell like?”  
“They don’t have a smell, they smell like nothing,” he answers shortly. 

“Oh, well, no harm in picking a few. Do I have to roll the dice to pick the flowers?” Vira asks innocently. 

“Uhhh…you know what, no. You don’t have to roll the dice. You just pick the flowers- hey what are you doing?” he asks, glancing to Vira who was grabbing at the floor around her, delicately plucking invisible flowers from the air. 

“I’m picking the flowers, just like you said,” she explains. “Do they go in my inventory now? Oh, wait! Will they get crushed when we fight the bandits?! Clover I don’t want to crush my flowers!” she says, her voice rising to a near wail. Clover sighs, shaking his head. 

“Sure. Put them in your inventory, and now they won’t get crushed. They will be fine,” he reassures her. Mayumi places a hand on her friend’s, patting it gently. 

“Ok! Anyways, you guys have picked your flowers, you have your mission and we’re going to keep doing that! So, as you walk through the woods-”  
“Are they still quiet?” Cerna asks. He hadn’t said much, but when he did, Mayumi noticed that, unlike when Vira or Mayumi spoke, Clover seemed happy to answer his questions. 

“Yup! Dead silent,” Clover responds. 

“If I look around...do I see any animals, or other creatures?” Cerna asks. His brow furrows, his little eyes seemingly squashed beneath his squint. 

“No, not any life near you,” Clover adds after a quick dice throw. 

“Ok. Can we decide to stop walking? I find this suspicious, I’d like to roll perception to see if we are being followed,” Cerna adds in his deep rumbling voice. It was soft, but thoughtful and reserved, as if he had to mule over every word before he tried to speak it, and still felt unsure about speaking. 

Clover grins, and without answering rolls the dice. Mayumi doesn’t understand what this number means, either, but it must be bad because Clover chuckles. It wasn’t his normal laughter, no, it was the kind of laughter that always preceded something terrible happening in the game. She glances up at him, eyes wide as he begins to speak, his voice full of burning vibrance, as if it has been lit on fire. His words filled the room, burning bright and causing Mayumi to shiver. 

“You pause, and stop to look around. What direction do you look?” Clover asks. His knuckles whiten as he grips the table, another bad sign. He was getting excited, Mayumi could tell, and he only ever got excited in this game right before a big fight broke out. 

“I look…to both our sides, and behind us. Basically, all around us,” Cerna answers, though he’s tentative.

“There’s nothing. However-”  
“Oh no,” Mayumi groans, interrupting him. “We didn’t look up! I look up!” 

“It’s too late! By the time you look up, a dragon is already bearing down upon the party from the sky!” he shouts, leaping up out of his chair and slamming both hands on the table. “It stands before you, opening it’s maw and letting loose a burst of flames to lick the sky, followed by a mighty, thundering roar. Slowly, it brings its great head down to eye-level. It’s jaws part as it speaks, it’s voice deep and booming, like thunder. It utters two words: ‘I hunger’”

“Oh, then have a cupcake,” Vira offers. “I still have cupcakes in my inventory from the last town we passed through, oh I’m sorry if they’re a little squished. I roll for friendship and offer the cupcakes to the dragon,” Vira says, nodding assuredly to herself. 

“No! There isn’t something you can roll for! But...um...you can roll persuasion. I...guess. If that’s what you’re going to do,” Clover says, the fire still burning in his voice. 

Vira rolls, and the dice lands on a twenty. Now, this number, Mayumi knew this was the really good, or really bad, number. She wasn’t sure if it was bad or good right now, but, she understood its importance. 

“What? Wait, no!” Clover wails, falling into his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. “The dragon leans forward and delicately licks the cupcake up with it’s barbed tongue. It pauses, tasting the cupcake. No one has ever fed this dragon sweets before, and this is his first cupcake. And, it won’t be his last. He hungers for these sweet, fluffy, cake things even more and asks you how he can get them,” Clover says, burying his face in his palms. 

“Can I keep him as a pet? Oh, what do I roll for that?” Vira asks, bouncing in her seat with excitement. “I promise to give him all the cupcakes I find! And bake lots for him! And, oh, and scratch his belly!”

“Vira, you can’t roll to tame a dragon. You have to...convince him to be your friend.” Clover responds tiredly.

“Oh, what if I give him a hug? And another cupcake, I have a few more in my inventory...about five! Oh, and I promise I’ll make more after we go defeat the bandits, then I can bake in the village they had been pillaging. Does he accept my hug and my deal? I would love a friend,” Vira pleads, her expression sorrowful, yet still full of desperate hope.

Clover pauses to think, staring right through Vira’s pitiful puppy-dog face. He steadily thrums his fingers on the wooden table. Then, he relents. 

“Ok, the dragon is interested in the idea of more cupcakes and asks for proof that you have more, not allowing you to hug him until he is fed again,” Clover responds. 

“Ok...so I show him all my cupcakes! And, oh, I tell him about cakes! Which are bigger cupcakes. I believe that if I can bake him a cake, it will be a much better portion for how giant he is,” Vira says. 

“The dragon nods, and allows exactly one hug from you. After the hug, he says he wishes to accompany you to the next village so that you can show him what this ‘cake’ is,” Clover says, rubbing his temple. “I can’t believe you just befriended a dragon with cupcakes and a d20…” Clover murmurs under his breath. “Anyways! The party, and the dragon, head through the woods to finally,  _ finally,  _ you reach the outskirts of the town that has been ravaged by bandits. What’s your first move?”

Cerna leans towards Vira and whispers something quickly to her, each word causing her eyes to grow bigger and bigger. She giggles, covering her mouth, and looks towards Clover with the look of a toddler who outsmarted their babysitter. 

“I look at my new friend, and I tell him, hey, you know how we can get the cake even faster? Surely we could take on the bandits, but it would be so much faster if he helped! Oh, and then he could have a whole diner before I make dessert for him!” Vira says confidently. 

Clover laughs in disbelief, running a hand through his hair. “That...that works...that actually works!” he shouts, jumping up out of his chair once again. The flames have returned to his eyes, and his voice is booming with energy. “The dragon leaps to action, shooting up into the air and then diving down upon the bandits! The bandits flesh stand no chance against the sharp teeth of the beast, their bodies lighting up with flame! The stench of burning enemies fills the clearing, and blood splatters the ground…” 

Mayumi stops listening, her hands beginning to tremble. The present slips like water through her quivering fingers and she finds herself surrounded by fire and blood, smoke filling her lungs and blood thick on her tongue. Her heart beats wildly as she grips the table, nails scraping wood from its surface. She opens her mouth, but no words are able to escape. Any sound she does make, she cannot hear over the drum beat of her internal organs. A steady thrumming pushing against her rib cage, so powerful it’s as if her body may burst from the force. Sweat beads along her hairline, but how can she be sure it’s sweat? It could be blood. 

“T-tell the dragon to stop it,” Mayumi chokes, though she’s unsure if her words make it past her closed throat. “T-tell him no,” 

“What do you mean? This was the mission, you guys are winning-” Clover starts, only to be cut off by Cerna. 

“No, the dragon listens and suddenly stops. Nobody else is hurt, and all the blood goes away,” Cerna murmurs in his low rumble. Mayumi feels his large hand on her shoulder and flinches, her hand instinctively moving to her weapon’s hilt. The hand retreats immediately. 

“Here, Mayumi, want to go get some water? Let’s go get some water, and stop at the bathroom to wash up your face,” Vira pipes in. Mayumi stands at the prompting of Vira’s small hand on her back, and follows blindly. Before she leaves, she catches sight of Clover’s expression. He’s confused, but upset, and worst of all, guilty. It’s painted on the creases of his face, etched into his defeated posture. 

The two girls walk in silence as the pounding in Mayumi’s head and chest dwindles. 

“Oh...he’s sad. Vira, why is he sad,” Mayumi murmurs once she’s calm enough to find her voice. 

“Who's sad?” Vira asks softly. Her hand is clinging to Mayumi’s tightly, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

“Clover,” Mayumi responds. 

“Oh! Clover...Well...he made you sad, and he feels a little bad about it. He didn’t know he’d make you sad,” Vira explains. 

“Oh...tell him it’s ok, it’s not his fault...it’s the dragons,” Mayumi murmurs, exhaustion creeping in. “Tell him that it’s ok. Oh...and...and tell him I need help with my homework again and he really should help me sometime. Ok?” 

“Ok, Mayumi. I’ll tell him,” Vira reassures her, patting her friend’s back as the take a turn into the bathrooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter! I am so sorry it took so long to get out! Between not having a laptop, and having to rewrite the entire second half of it, it definitely had a few delays! Fear not, I'm still writing! I hope you like what I've wrote so far! 
> 
> Also, huge thanks to my good Enoan for helping me with the dnd themed scene, as I have never played! He really helped me ensure the scene followed dnd rules, and made sense. Huge thank you to him ^_^
> 
> Leave a comment if your enjoying it, or if you have any thoughts! Let me know what you think about the characters, or just anything that came to mind while you were reading! I love hearing from readers!


	13. Chapter 13

Mayumi twiddles her thumbs, attempting to ignore Ozpin’s green eyes peering over the brim of his glasses. This was the closest she had been to him since her interview, which was intimidating in its own right. The circumstances of her being there, however, only added to the fear she felt. They were in trouble, and the scalding disappointment in Ozpin’s gaze was enough to rattle her to the core. 

“So...you all are here because you violated school rules and decided to take on a Grimm on your own? I would commemorate your fighting spirit, had you not been rescued by Professor Dimitri,” Ozpin murmurs. His tone is soft and fatherly, reminding Mayumi of Ivan. It was the same scolding tone as him as well: one that didn’t need to be raised in order to unsettle the listener.

“That’s correct!” Pixie responds, her fake smile tightening. “A bit of a slip up…” she murmurs, her voice trailing off. Ozpin chuckles, monotone and unenthused. Randy and Gabriel exchange silent glances. 

“Oh, yes. Quite the slip up,” Ozpin says. He leans forward, his gaze slicing straight through Mayumi, though she knew he wasn’t just looking at her. In fact, his eyes were glued to Pixie’s stubborn smile. “You’re very lucky it wasn’t worse,” he adds, cocking an eyebrow. 

“I had it under enough control...I could have killed that Grimm myself. Besides, no one got hurt,” Pixie says. A cheeky, unfiltered smile tugs at her lips, as if she wasn’t worried that they’d get some sort of terrible punishment. Randy had told Mayumi that punishments could include janitorial duty. Cleaning toilets! Not that Mayumi minded dirty jobs, only that she was hoping her time at Beacon would not be spent doing such things. Her thoughts are broken by Ozpin’s response. 

“But they almost did. That is besides the point, anyways. What you did broke school rules and showed a severe lack of discipline. This needs to be addressed, does it not?” Ozpin says with narrowed eyes. He’s reading Pixie. Mayumi can see it, and she can tell that Pixie sees it as well. The pink haired girl’s smile falters and her hands grip the seat of her chair. Mayumi’s fear, however, is short-lived as Pixie quickly regains composure.

“Surely...the punishment won’t be too bad, will it? It was our first slip up, and...we have proved ourselves to be able Grimm-killers,” Pixie says. Despite Pixie’s playful tone, the room seems to have dipped into a heavy awkwardness. Ozpin is the only one comfortable. Gabriel is looking everywhere but at Ozpin, and Randy is suddenly extremely interested in fixing his collar. Mayumi, on the other hand, finds her eyes glued to Ozpin every moment they weren’t flittering to Pixie. Her eyes were wide, begging him to glance her away and break the standstill between him and Pixie. If only he could chuckle a real chuckle. Not the dry, fake laughs he had been peppering the conversation with. 

“I will decide how bad it is,” Ozpin replies dryly. Pixie’s nails dig into her chair. Her smile cracks. She grits her teeth. 

“You really ain’t any fun, are ya?” she mutters, nails sinking deeper. 

“I can be, when it’s earned,” he replies evenly. 

“And how does one do that?” Pixie murmurs. 

“The first thing you can do is learn some self control. You know, the punishment I picked for you all is going to test how quickly you all can learn self control. Do you know what the purpose of the guard towers stationed outside of Beacon is?” Ozpin says, leaning away from his desk. His tone lightens and the entire atmosphere of the room seems to change with this shift in mood from the headmaster. The pressing weight of his stare evaporates, leaving only the dull buzz of Pixie’s anger to cause discomfort. At least that, Mayumi thought, was something manageable. 

“Yeah, they keep an eye on Grimm,” Randy pipes in. This earns a harsh glare from Pixie, but Ozpin nods approvingly and encourages Randy to continue with a wave of his hand. 

“Do you know who stands guard in these towers?” Ozpin questions. Pixie opens her mouth, but a stern look from Ozpin cuts her off. Randy slowly continues. 

“Umm… I always assumed huntsmen,” Randy ventures. 

“Not huntsmen. We’d need quite a bit of huntsmen to stand there all day, not even fighting Grimm. No, no. It’s hired citizens, usually law enforcement. They don’t actually fight, they just watch. Watch, and alert the Council of Vale when Grimm are sighted. Then, the real huntsmen come in.” Ozpin pauses. “But, occasionally I send students to help. You students wouldn’t mind spending a few hours watching for Grimm? I put a heavy emphasis on watching, as you will not be allowed to fight the Grimm.” Ozpin continues. His eyes venture, landing back on Pixie’s twitching expression. 

“We don’t mind,” Pixie answers tersely. The room falls into thick silence broken by the muffled tapping of Pixie’s foot. This goes on for what feels like eons, though surely was only a few seconds. Ozpin stands, gesturing to the students to do the same.

“Check your scrolls. I’ll let you know about your punishment when I iron out the details with the Council. Understood?”

“Yes. Sir.” Pixie responds. Mayumi can see Pixie’s body quivering beneath her clothing, her muscles tightened with a quiet rage. Narcissa was always better at these things, while Pixie could hardly contain her anger when faced with the slightest of problems. Mayumi gently places her hand on Pixie’s, tentatively in case it furthers her anger. Pixie silently accepts the touch and the team boards the elevator.

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Vira always writes in a physical diary. Though scrolls have a place to write, the tapping of her fingers against the screen don’t even compare to the solace she finds when pen meets paper. Older journals are her favorites: especially the ones she finds with a few scribbles already in it. When the ink sinks into the dark paper, her memories settle and become graspable and tangible _things._ Vira doesn’t know why her memory is this way, only that writing down everything helps it stick. Then it is forever, something she can reference whenever she needs too. 

The door creaks open and in comes Clover. Vira quickly closes her diary and glances over at him with wide eyes. It takes a moment for his name to come to her, but once it does she smiles. Clover Shi. Her teammate. He has a pocket dimension for a semblance and really likes eggs. All of this is written down in her diary. She studies it every night, else these trivial facts would melt from her mind and disappear like fog in the morning. 

“Clover! Where have you been?” she asks in a mouse-like voice. 

“I was in the forge working on my shields,” he responds. He places his hand on the wall of the building and a glowing, green hole opens up. He reaches inside and pulls out two, circular shields with jagged, saw-like edges, and closes the portal. 

“See, this one wasn’t spinning quite right so I wanted to fix the motor on it. I think I got it...” he trails off. Vira smiles, nodding along as he speaks. Clover loves to go on about his weapons, though now he seems preoccupied. 

“You did? That’s great. Do you want to show me? Or is there something else on your mind?” she asks. Clover opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. He sets his weapons down and sits on his bed with a heavy expression.

“You and Mayumi traveled together, right?” Clover asks. He keeps his head low with eyes glued to his hands. 

“Yes...we did. Why do you ask? Oh, are you still worried about the game we played? She isn’t mad at you I promi-”

“No, no that’s not it. I was just wondering…why did she react like that? What happened to her that she was so bothered?” he asks. Vira shifts. In truth, she only could recall fragments of their travels beyond the past month, and she wasn’t even allowed to talk about what they had really been doing. Their involvement with Chaos was a secret. Ivan had given them all a fake story, so she supposed that was what she should tell Clover. 

“Well...we’re orphans. I don’t really know what happened to Mayumi and Pixie’s village, but Mayumi told me that it had been destroyed by Grimm. I’m sure a dragon destroying a village just hit a little too close to home,” Vira lies. The lie slips off her tongue easily, though truth be told she didn’t really know if it was a lie. For all she knew, the story was true. 

“Oh...I should have been a little more careful with what I said. I’ll make sure I keep that in mind when I’m around her. Hey, what’s a good way to make it up to her?” Clover asks. He looks up to meet Vira’s eyes for the first time and she sees they’re bright with hope. 

“Well...you could help her study. I know she complains about that all the time. Or, oh! Pixie can be really loud and overbearing, so if you take her out to do things in Vale without Pixie she might like the break. Or even just in the pocket,” Vira offers. “She’s pretty curious about the pocket,” Vira adds. 

“Really?” Clover asks. “I guess she did seem pretty...interested when she was in there the night before orientation. Do you think I should show her around? Like, I could show her the kitchen. Oh! There’s the workshop. It’s on the roof, is she afraid of heights?” Clover asks Vira. He leans towards her eagerly, hardly able to contain his excitement. 

“No, Mayumi’s not afraid of heights. I think she’d like the roof. She likes pretty things, you know? Maybe show her the sky of your pocket, she’ll like that more than the workshop part,” Vira explains. Clover nods thoughtfully, standing up assuredly. 

“I think I’ll do that after her team does their punishment, maybe as a pick-me-up. Is that a good idea? Oh, are you sure she won’t be interested in the workshop? I think it’s pretty interesting-”

“Clover, if you’re trying to make Mayumi feel better, then you should focus on what she’ll like about the pocket. She might think it’s cool, but she never really was all that into making weapons. Maybe another time, you can show that off. Ok?” Vira offers. Clover is visibly disappointed, but he shrugs it off. 

“Ok. Got it. Focus on what she likes, which is pretty things, and help her with her homework. I’ll make her feel better in no time!” he says confidently. With that, he opens a large portal on the wall of their dorm room, revealing a door. 

“Are you going in there to study?” Vira asks nonchalantly, used to Clover’s pocket by now. 

“Umm...maybe in a bit. Right now, I’m going to make sure everything is tidy for Mayumi. She seems like the clean type. Is she?” he asks. Vira giggles lightly, offering a small nod. 

“Yeah, you could say that. She doesn’t like clutter,” Vira says happily. It made her happy to see Clover feeling better. The fact that he was willing to go out of his way to make things up to Mayumi really touched her heart, as well. She hoped it went well. 

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The janitor’s closet smells of cleaning chemicals and cigarette smoke. In fact, Pixie notices that she could pick out the smells of more than one tobacco product among the wafting odors of bleach and various disinfecting sprays. It was enough to give a girl a headache: Pixie can already feel one coming on. She tries to ignore it, however, since her mission is to acquaint herself with the smelly man who spent his time in this foul smelling room, she has to push through. 

Besides just the smell, the room is small. It seems to double as both a closet and a living area for the janitor. A table, several chairs, a bed, and a few scattered appliances crowd one half of the room, while the other houses a tall shelving rack that’s leaning precariously against the brick wall. It’s packed full with cleaning materials, chewing tobacco and cigarette packets are lying around the bottle and jugs of chemicals. Pixie doesn’t think it looks very safe, nor does she care if it is. With a slender hand, she snags a package of cigarettes and sniffs it. Not her favorite kind, but a smoke was a smoke. She lights it quickly with a lighter from her pocket. With a click, the fire dust inside it ignites and the smoke from her breath mingles with the odor of the room. As much as she hates the smell, she enjoys the buzz of nicotine in her veins. It’s especially nice when she’s away from the good supply Ivan keeps around. Pixie allows her mind to wander to Ivan, and Chaos, as she waits for the janitor, the cigarette smoke billowing off her breath like broken storm clouds. 

Chaos is her home. It’s a place where people like her, true degenerates of society, could live freely. At least, that’s what Ivan always preaches. Their mission is to gather the lost, tormented souls of outcasts, and their second was to serve the Goddess of Chaos. Pixie has never seen the Goddess herself, only heard of her through Ivan’s gospels. Pixie had never been the religious type until she met Ivan, but that man could change a woman. She taps the cigarette against the shelving, reminded of the importance of her mission. Blueprints. She needs blueprints. Or, rather, she needs them long enough for both her and Narcissa to get a good look at them. 

It isn’t that either of them can memorize the layout of the school at a glance. It’s Ivan’s semblance that would end up being the key to this mission’s success. Ivan can read memories, bring them back, and do with them what he pleases. Of course, he isn’t going to tamper with the memory of the blueprints, only look through them. That and all the other pieces of information that the four girls gathered. He only tampers with memories when members were bad, which Pixie has already learned the hard way. Ivan can dig up the most terrible memories, twist them into something more horrifying, and leave you lost in your mind if he wishes. Pixie shivers, white and blue flashing in her eyes. She grips the shelves with a firm hand, her fingers trembling as she struggles to reroot herself in the present. 

“Are you not used to a smoke?” a low, gravely voice asks. Pixie jerks her head towards the door, muttering a curse under her breath. 

“I am. I just...haven’t had one in awhile,” she says sweetly. Immediately after noticing him, she paints a smile on her red lips and places a hand on the curve of her hip, as if to bring attention to the finer points of her body. The way she walks, the way she speaks, and even the way her eyes lock on his, all communicate a feeling of openness and willingness. Men like that, she knows. They like a woman who can be molded into whatever shape they want, so if you become clay in their hands they drop their guard thinking that they’re the ones sculpting you. In reality, there isn’t a pair of hands more suited to forming others than Pixie’s own beautifully slender fingers. 

“You’re so desperate for a smoke that you decided to break into my stash?” he pauses, reaching past her to snag a cigarette of his own. He lights it, placing it between his lips. Pixie gives his face her attention. It’s pale, his chin is unevenly covered in stubble, and she can’t find many redeeming physical characteristics. He has a face that looks as if it was roughly sculpted from granite, and left unpolished. Unappealing eyes stare back at her, a muddled brownish green color that immediately brings down her appreciation for hazel eyes. Paired with the drooping of his lids and the tired bruises beneath, and his eyes reminded her of dirty puddles. 

“Maybe I came for the smokes, maybe I came for the company,” she murmurs, blowing a breath of smoke towards him. He chuckles, shaking his head and moving towards the bed. When he sits, it creaks under his weight. He’s a thin, short man, so the bed’s verbal complaints lead Pixie to think that the ragged cot was even cheaper than it looked. 

“What - you think Ozpin hired a sleezebag to work at his school? I don’t do that, not with students, at least,” he says with a dry chuckle. “And you look too clean to be a working girl. Now get out of my room, okay sweetheart? I don’t have time for this,” he says. His voice wheezes, as if his lungs can’t ever fill with enough air. Pixie wonders if her lungs will shrivel up, should she live long enough to reach his age. She wagers that they will, and finds solace in this. 

“I didn’t mean like that,” she recovers quickly with a laugh. “I just don’t click too well with the students around here. Sure, they’re nice and all, but I came from the streets. I’m a traveler, no formal training. Everyone here...well it’s like you assumed about me: they’re too clean. Can’t take a smoke,” she says easily, watching him carefully. He doesn’t get up, and instead watches her with his interest clearly piqued. 

“Is that so? Well, if you’re going to smoke my cigarettes, then the least you could do is pa-” 

Before he can finish, Pixie reaches into the pocket of her dress and pulls out a wallet. Snagging 1,000 lien, she tosses it to him. 

“Buy yourself a nicer box of cigs, sweetheart,” she says with a playful wink. With a swift movement of her hand, she tucks her wallet back into her dress pocket. 

“I sure will, sweets,” he responds, quickly snagging the money with a ragged smile on his face. It wasn’t much, just enough to cover the cost of another box: but Pixie knew that just one box of cigarettes meant a whole lot to someone who smoked as steadily as this man did. 

“Next time I visit, I’ll bring my favorite. That is, if you let me stop by again for a smoke,” Pixie chirps, placing her hand on her chest to draw his eyes. However, his smoking habit must be stronger than any woman-based habits she assumed him to have and he doesn’t lift his eyes from the money. Well, not like she was going to complain. She preferred her targets to be...easier on the eyes, anyways. 

“Of course, sweetheart. So long as you share,” he says, chuckling at his own joke. Pixie turns, only allowing herself to roll her eyes once she’s facing the door. 

“I sure will, hun, I sure will,” she murmurs. She pauses, a fanged grin playing at her lips. Her foot was in the door, it wouldn’t take long for her to get what she wanted. Without any hesitation, she leaves with nothing more than a wave.  
  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Below are some pieces of art I have purchased/won in raffles of the characters in the fic!

  
  


Mayumi + Mayumi and the rest of team PMGR both pieces by Loquacious_squid on instagram! They are an awesome artist, the first piece 

  
Mayumi piece won in an art raffle! Huge thanks to the artist for making her look super badass in this image! Check them out as town_mayor on instagram!

  
This piece is also by loquacious, just being an early sketch/work that lead to the first one. This, however, showcases Mayumi's weapon in its second form. 

This piece was also won in an art raffle and is of our team leader Pixie, done by @duckchoo on twitter! Please check them out, they are so talented!

More art might be featured in later chapters, and if anyone out there draws fanart...if you want me to show it off you can dm it to me! I doubt that'll happen, but hey what the heck!

A question for you all: any guesses for what direction the story may go? Just hit me with any and all predictions! I won't say if you're right or wrong...but I'm curious what you all think!


	14. Chapter 14

Team Glacier and Pomegranate stand in the sparring gym, a large open space with benches scattered for bystanders to sit at. The gym is clearly worn down from the spars it has hosted, with scorch marks and cracks in the floor and decorating the exceedingly high ceiling. There is a pile of broken benches in the far corner, and the remaining seats look just as beaten up as furniture from a two year olds dollhouse. 

Most of the assembled students are gathered at one end among the remaining benches. Pixie and Narcissa sat silently, watching the ongoing fight intensely, with Clover seated a few feet away and Cerna close by. He has a textbook resting on his lap, and is much more engrossed with that. Randy and Mayumi have chosen to stand off to the side. 

A streak of blue flashes across the training gym, heading straight for a dark-haired girl who was wildly throwing blades his way. Mayumi watches with wide eyes, silently cheering Vira, the dark smudge, on. Randy shouts Gabriel’s name, and nudges Mayumi’s shoulder with a chuckle. 

“Oh come on, cheer Gabriel on. Even if he’s losing,” Randy jokes, turning his gaze back to the fight. A glint of silver catches Mayumi’s eyes, and she watches it strike Gabriel in the chest. He falls backwards, caught off balance, and then several more swords pin him to the wall behind him. Mayumi feels her heart flutter. Vira is such a graceful fighter! Even if watching Vira fight never truly puts Mayumi’s worries about her friend to rest, she can’t help but feel something within her stirr at the sight. The years of rigorous training in Chaos reflect in every fluid movement of Vira’s wrist as she throws her daggers, every perfect placement of her feet as she keeps herself out of Gabriel’s comfort zone. How could she not cheer? 

“Vira’s my friend,” Mayumi states firmly, then she hesitates. “Well, so is Gabriel, but Vira has been my friend for a lot longer. Of course I’m going to cheer for her, even if we couldn’t be on the same team,” Mayumi explains. Her attention is torn back to the fight as Vira closes the distance. Swiftly, she pulls one of the daggers pinning Gabriel from the wall, presses her small form against him, and pushes the blade against his throat. 

“Match! Good job Vira,” Narcissa calls out sharply. Narcissa glances at Pixie with a sneer. 

“Your team isn’t doing so good, hm?” Narcissa teases. Pixie shoves her, cackling. 

“Oh that’s not fair, you put your best against Gabriel. That’s like...Mayumi against Clover! Unfair from the beginning,” Pixie shoots back in response, her hands busily gesturing as she speaks. 

“Fine! We’ll do that matchup next. You know, Clover has been doing really well in training. Right Clover!” Narcissa snaps hotly at the challenge. Clover looks up from the textbook he had been reading on the sideline, obviously not paying attention to the girls’ conversation. 

“Oh, yeah. Totally. Whatever she said…” he mumbles, clearly still interested in whatever it was he was reading. Narcissa balls her hands into fists and snarls. 

“Clover! It’s your turn, you’re fighting Mayumi. Pay attention! You’re supposed to be learning right now! By  _ watching _ ,” Narcissa shouts. 

Clover slams his book shut and jumps up, snagging his weapons all in one motion. 

“Great!” he says cheerfully, heading towards the center of the arena. 

Mayumi doesn’t need to be told to get ready to fight, she’s already strutting into the arena after Clover. Her weapons sit easily in her grip. The image of Clover saving her from the King Taijitu during initiation flashes in her mind and she feels a shame burning in her stomach. Now was her chance to prove that she didn’t need to be helped! 

The two face each other and exchange polite nods as signs of good faith. Adrenaline starts to pump through Mayumi’s veins. It shoots through her like horses out of the racing gates with heat on their breath and hooves pounding against the floor of her blood vessels.

Mayumi shifts her weight back, and at the sound of Narcissa’s voice she’s gone and Clover’s first attack strikes dead space. As she comes back down from above, she relishes in the feeling of the air against her skin, streaming through the loose hairs that frame her face. Before Clover has even realized where she went, she’s on his back, swords clashing against him. 

As soon as the action starts, it’s as if a switch is flipped: she is focused. She finds her muscles relaxing so that each strike is effortless. A fight is simply a dance with an uncooperative partner, an exchange of elegant movements with someone who wants to sabotage the act. Each blow must be countered, and each strike placed in order to force her partner to move the way she wanted: the way she needed them to move to complete the dance. 

Her swords find the places Clover leaves unguarded. Weak points stand out to her, things she can latch onto and focus on - no matter how small. Unlike the jumbled words on the pages of a textbook, a fight was clear. Like scattered puzzle pieces falling into place and connecting with a click of satisfaction, a picture is built. His legs, she found, were the most vulnerable spots. He holds his shields just slightly too high, and with how thin her swords are, she is able to easily exploit this. 

Within minutes the fight is over. Mayumi finds herself placed perfectly behind him. With her blades taking the form of a whip, she wraps her weapon around one of his ankles and pulls back, and he tumbles head over heels. Before he can get up, she has a foot on his shoulder blade and there’s cold steel against the back of his neck. 

Pixie punches Narcissa’s arm, flashing sharp teeth as she laughs. Narcissa’s arms are folded over her chest, her foot tapping restlessly on the gym floor. 

“Match over! Good job Mayumi!” Pixie shouts, hopping in place with excitement. “That’s my girl!” she adds, shooting Narcissa a flamboyant grin. 

As soon as Pixie calls the match, Mayumi quickly shuffles off of Clover and extends a hand to help him. He takes it, his grip strong, and pulls himself up, using Mayumi as an anchor. 

“That was some nice work. You know, the way that your swords work is really amazing...is that gravity dust that holds them together? Well, of course it is. It’s purple, gravity dust is the only purple dust out there,” he says with a chuckle. It’s clear that his focus is on her weapons. His fingers twitch, as if he’s trying to keep himself from reaching out and grabbing them. 

“It’s gravity dust. Here, I can show you up close if you’d like…” Mayumi starts, when suddenly Clover shakes his head. 

“No! Don’t show me! I mean, not here. Uh- well, what I meant to say was that you should show me in my pocket! While I’m helping you study. That’s what I was going to ask,” he says, shoving his hands behind his back with a grimace. 

Mayumi blinks, confusion welling up within her. She quickly sheaths her swords and nods slowly, taking a step back. Clover is acting awfully strange. Is he scared of her weapon? That would be silly, but perhaps understandable if she just beat him with them.

“O-oh ok! Yeah, sounds like a great idea! We have our...punishment mission tomorrow, but it shouldn’t be late. It’s just a day mission right outside of Vale,” Mayumi offers, ending her words with a smile. Spending time with Clover had been fun thus far, with the exception of a single moment, and she’s sure it will be nice to be able to get a better look at his semblance. Her heart flutters thinking of how warm it had been when she had first wandered into the pocket, like a nice bath one could sink into. 

“Yeah! Yeah, that’s great. Tomorrow, I will show you the pocket. Awesome!” he says, rubbing his hands together, as though he were rolling out dough. 

“Mayumi!” Pixie shouts, catching the young girl’s attention. “Get over here. We have to head out, we have to leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow and we still have to get that presentation about dust types done for Professor Dimitri’s class. I don’t want to be up late,” Pixie says, ushering Mayumi with wide, swooping motions of her arms. Mayumi quickly abandons Clover, rushing over to her team leader. Pixie places a hand on Mayumi’s shoulder, shooting a glare towards Clover. Mayumi’s stomach drops to her feet. Was it wrong of her to take Clover’s offer? Had she talked to him for too long after the fight? Her cheeks flush as she realizes how stupid she had been, accepting an offer to spend time with someone without Pixie: a boy of all people! Pixie hated any involvement Mayumi had with men or boys alike. Mayumi knew this, but Clover seemed so nice, and the thought of being able to relax in the pocket brings her a lovely feeling of soft joy, akin to the sensation that comes with running one's hand through a bird’s feathered breast. The kind of gleeful anticipation that made her feel weightless. 

Her head spins. How could she be excited for something that felt so inexplicably dirty, something that would only insight Pixie’s anger? 

With one glance back at Clover, she feels her heart beat faster. A dangerous thought slips into her brain, crawling through the folds of her grey matter. 

So what if it makes Pixie angry?

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

The team get to their watchtower early the next morning, the sun streaming in through the thin windows that wrap around the length of the tower. Kept relatively clean for a good viewing experience, it was clear that these windows were important to the tower. As Gabriel approaches these windows, he stares out into the wilderness that surrounded Vale. The tree line is pushed back, leaving swathes of ragged grassland outside the city's walls. If the treeline was too close to the wall, it would make sighting approaching Grimm, or an army, harder to spot. 

While attending Compass Academy back in Atlas, Gabriel had learned about the defensive systems of all the kingdoms, reaching beyond Atlas’s own borders. Seeing Beacon’s defensive wall, sitting within the very towers he had learned about from an attackers perspective, is strange. More than strange, however, Gabriel finds this to be a relief. He is not here to bring harm to another kingdom, but to help protect the people within their walls. 

Lost in deep focus, he doesn’t notice Pixie approaching until her hand is on his shoulder. She leans forward. Her hand tightens its grip and her breath is warm and rancid on his neck. 

“Ain’t it beautiful out there?” she asks, giggling and patting his back with a firm hand. 

“It’s mostly just trees,” Gabriel responds dryly. Pixie laughs again, taking her hands off the boy altogether and placing them on her hips instead. 

“Trees are beautiful!” she shouts, gesturing to the air above her. “It’s too bad Mayumi can’t see them properly. She’s stuck at the cameras, too short to see out the windows. And of course, Randy couldn’t just leave her be,” Pixie says with a snort. Pixie sends a disdainful look towards her companion, who is seated across the room at a desk staring into several computer screens. Randy is nearby, keeping his teammate company. 

The contempt Pixie holds for her team, most pointedly Mayumi, rubs Gabriel the wrong way. Despite knowing better, he can’t help but retort. 

“That’s really unnecessary.”

“Unnecessary? Whaddya mean?” Pixie says, tilting her head. The look in her eyes urges him to reconsider his position. Pixie glowers down at him, her height suddenly foreboding as she leans closer. Her hands find a place to rest on either side of him, trapping him. Gabriel doubts that Pixie would actually lay a hand on any of them, but that didn’t stop his heart from rapidly beating in his chest.

“Nothing,” he quickly answers. His words are not his own, he speaks them only so that Pixie, and her obnoxiously bad breath, will back off. 

It works. 

“Then we’re good here,” she says, her usual perky tone returning as if nothing had happened. 

Gabriel turns to look back out the window, crossing his arms over his chest. His mind, however, is not on the view. Instead, his head is filled with thoughts of Pixie. She reminds him of an Atlesian general, ruling with an icy fist and a sharp tongue to match. He can’t believe how unlucky he is. Running away from Atlas was supposed to free him from people like her, but somehow he ended up in a team run by a bully with pink hair and a temper that rivals that of his professors back home. 

He can’t help thinking that there’s something else about her. His professors had tempers and would not hesitate to put a student in their place, but Gabriel never feared them. When Pixie snaps, Gabriel is scared. The thought makes him shudder. Something wasn’t right with Pixie, and Mayumi seems to be shouldering most of it. Even worse, the young fox faunus remains blissfully unaware. 

Pixie sighs heavily behind him. “This place is filthy,” she calls out, gesturing to the room around her. “Hey, Gabriel, I’ll watch the window for a bit, you go look and see if you can find some cleaning supplies. I thought I saw a closet on the stairs on our way up, see what’s in there.” 

Gabriel glances back at her, hesitating. When she raises a brow and snaps her fingers at him, he rolls his eyes and walks past her towards the stairs. Sure enough, he finds a closet a few steps down, and swings the door open. Inside are some cleaning materials, and a toolbox.

“Found some things!” Gabriel calls out, snagging what he can in his hands. “There’s a broom, a mop, some bottles of...stuff. Bleach, window cleaner, whatever,” he says, bringing everything to the table with the cameras. Mayumi sneaks a glance towards the supplies only to quickly turn back to the dim screens in front of her. 

“What was that about, with Pixie?” Randy whispers. Gabriel brushes it off. Pixie is sauntering her way over, and he doesn’t want to risk upsetting her again. 

“Ooo! Looks like there was a closet! Wonder why no one ever uses this stuff. This place is filthy,” she chirps, grabbing the broom and broom pan. “Gabriel, sweetheart, was there a mop and bucket in there?”

Her words ooze sickly sweet and he has to fight the urge to give a harsh response. Without answering, he only nods. 

“Okay, Randy, you go fill that up. Gabriel, I want you to work on sweeping, and I’ll get the windows looking all shiny!”

Mayumi turns away from her post, looking up with wide eyes, eager to partake. 

“What do you want me to do?” she asks, bouncing in her seat. Pixie dismisses her with a wave of her hand.

“Just sit there, someone’s gotta watch the cameras.” 

Dejected, Mayumi turns around and settles back down. 

“I can watch the cameras, I don’t really want to help clean, and if Mayumi wants to-” Pixie turns, her lip twitching to reveal her canines. 

“Did I ask what either of you wanted? No. I didn’t. I told you what to do, and this is the part where you listen. Got it? Good. Great talk,” Pixie snaps, her nails digging into the wood of the broom. Gabriel raises his hands in automatic surrender once again, and Pixie rewards him with a smile. 

“Thank you. Mayumi, do you have any issues?” she asks, leaning against her broom. 

“No. Not at all,” Mayumi murmurs softly. The light from the monitors reflect in her blank stare. Gabriel has to force himself to look away from her. With a heavy hand, he grabs a bottle of window cleaner and a soft cloth, heading over to one of the window panes. 

Pixie begins chattering immediately. 

“You know, I don’t mind cleaning that much. Quite like it, actually. I was really hoping we’d get some sort of janitorial duty, but Ozzie had other plans. Whatever, I can always get my cleaning fix here! Nothing wrong with that,” she starts, pausing only to bark a command at Randy when he returns with the filled mop bucket. 

“Hey, set that over there, and then dust the computer monitors while I finish up sweeping. There’s no sense in mopping until I’m done with this.”

Randy chuckles, going along with her commands without a second thought. Gabriel didn’t understand how Randy put up with her, how he didn’t seem to see anything wrong with Pixie. Couldn’t he see the venom in her eyes? 

“I didn’t know you liked cleaning this much,” Randy starts, easing into conversation with the pink haired woman. “You’d think you have a cleaning semblance,” Randy jokes. Pixie laughs, shaking her head. 

“I don’t have a cleaning semblance,” she responds lightly. 

“Oh? What is your semblance?” Randy asks, pausing in his cleaning. Gabriel follows suit. Pixie keeps her semblance under wraps to everyone except Mayumi, and Gabriel is just as curious to hear what it is. 

“Ah, you’ll find out,” Pixie teases, tugging at Randy’s ear. Unfazed, he pushes her hand away and goes back to his assigned task. 

“I bet you don’t even have one. Not like you need one, you fight just fine without,” Randy answers. Pixie laughs, shaking her head. 

“You really think I don’t have one? Come on, I’m not Gabriel,” she says, shooting a glance his way. Gabriel turns away, but it’s not fast enough. He feels her eyes on him, burning the back of his neck, waiting for him to respond. 

“I just haven’t unlocked mine yet, I-I’m sure I will,” Gabriel answers, though he lacks confidence. 

“I’m sure you will, too,” Pixie snorts back in response. Randy doesn’t laugh, and for that Gabriel is grateful. For how blind he seems, at least Randy knew how to read a room. 

“Hey, Mayumi! What’s your semblance? It’s not a secret, too, is it?” Randy quickly shifts the focus from Gabriel to Mayumi, and the young girl eagerly jumps on the opportunity. 

“Oh! It’s electricity. Pixie, can I show them real quick? Please?” Mayumi pleads, starting to stand up. Gabriel turns around just in time to see anger flashing in Pixie’s eyes, but Pixie doesn’t say no. 

“Fine, but don’t break anything.”

“Break anything? Oh, this’ll be exciting.” Randy chuckles, leaning on one of the monitors. 

Mayumi stands up, cracking her knuckles and shaking out her hands. With her brows knotted, she raises a hand. In a flash, the room is filled with a brilliant white light that dies just as soon as it appears. 

“Wow, it literally is just electricity,” Randy jokes, turning back to dusting. Mayumi beams, only to be cut down by Pixie. 

“Cameras?” 

“O-oh, sorry Pixie! I’ll get right back to it,” Mayumi responds, falling back into her seat haphazardly, her cheeks flushed. Gabriel sprays the window, wiping the cleaner away with his cloth. In the glass, he sees that Pixie’s gaze is still locked on him, something unreadable swimming in her bright blue eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you all for reading! 
> 
> Just a quick few things here. First, I have a patreon now! If you like what I write, follow me on twitter and maybe find my patreon. Every bit is nice. 
> 
> Ok. Self plug out of the way. Other news! I recently went through and edited a lot of my chapters, some having bigger edits than others(A small new scene added to chapter 8), but either way, if you want to see what was improved, you can totally reread some old chapters and see the difference. A lot of it is minor, and you can certainly enjoy the story without reading the edits, but in my opinion in makes the previous chapters better! 
> 
> Now, for people who are still reading, how'd you find my fanfic, and what about it made you want to keep reading? I want to try and do more of these post-chapter questions, but I'm really bad at thinking of them!
> 
> Hope you all liked this chapter! I am so sorry it took so long to come out!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ABUSE TRIGGER WARNING 
> 
> the third scene of this chapter has a scene with violence and may be triggering if abuse is a trigger for you. Otherwise, please enjoy the rest of the fanfic ^_^

The followup meeting with Ozpin had been short and sweet, and the entire team had left with a feeling of pride in their chests, none more joyful than Pixie. It made Mayumi unbearably happy to see Pixie finally out of her slump. Ever since Ozpin’s first chastisement, Pixie had been irritable and unusually snappish. Everything felt better when Pixie was in a good mood. 

Now, Mayumi is walking towards team GLCR’s dorm room, her textbooks clutched to her chest. Getting away from Pixie had been easier than she had initially thought, as her partner had left to go talk with the janitor, again. Pixie has immersed herself in trying to befriend the man during her time off, giving Mayumi a sense of freedom she had never before known. This doesn’t stop her stomach from twisting with guilt as she approaches the dorm room door, and places her hand on it. Pausing, Mayumi steadies her breath and reminds herself that Pixie is busy, and that she wasn’t going to stop her. Besides, what’s so bad about visiting Clover?

Mayumi peeks inside, glancing around. The room was empty except for the desks and beds, and she assumes the rest of his team was off doing things. Narcissa, she imagines, is out prowling the school grounds, though she can’t fathom where Vira or Cerna are. Perhaps they’re in Clover’s pocket as well! The thought makes her smile. Despite her original misgivings about Cerna, he had been very kind to her while playing Clover’s game, so she was willing to accept him as a friend. A study group with the four of them would be fun. 

The door closes behind her. No sooner than it does, she notices that there’s a  _ second  _ door in the wall at the head of one of the beds. She recognizes it from the night before initiation and approaches, shifting her textbooks to one arm so that she can knock. 

It’s answered immediately. 

“Mayumi! You made it! Pixie didn’t come with, right?” he asks, peeking his head out to look around the room. 

“No, she’s not here. It’s, uh, just me!” Mayumi responds with a smile. Clover ushers her in. 

“Good! I mean, not that she’s bad or anything, I don’t really know her, just that I was really hoping it would just be you. And it is. So that’s great,” Clover says. Mayumi follows him deeper into the pocket, setting her stuff down on the table as she goes. 

“I brought my Econ books. Are we going to be studying that? I’m really having trouble with it. It’s mostly numbers, and those are really confusing,” Mayumi explains. Clover pauses, turning around with a whirl, his eyes locking on her books on the table. 

“Oh! Yeah. Studying. That...” Clover moves towards the table and sits down, sliding into his seat with a distinct lack of grace. Mayumi slowly sits, her brow cocked. Clover was acting awfully strange, just like he had been after the sparring match. Was he still scared of her?! The thought makes her twist with guilt.

“Clover, you don’t have to be scared of me,” The words tumble from her mouth. Clover’s face flushes, his brows knotting. 

“I’m not scared of you,” he explains. 

“Why are you acting so strangely?” she asks, her guilt and fear being replaced with confusion. 

“I’m not!” he snaps back defensively, inhaling sharply. “I mean, I’m not,” he responds, much calmer. 

“Okay. Sorry…” she mumbles, turning toward the textbook on the table. 

“No, Mayumi, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. Here, let’s look at your econ. Let’s see, we’re learning about freelance huntsmen, right? What do you remember from lecture…” 

The two of them delve into her textbook, Clover looking over her shoulder, pointing at diagrams within the pages that highlight his points. Mayumi finds his voice to be strangely soothing. It was warm, laced with a rasp that was barely noticeable unless you were paying close attention. He spoke cleanly, with only the occasional stumbling, and exuded a confidence that didn’t put her down. Instead, it seemed to call to her, pull her up onto her feet. He wasn’t just confident in himself, he was confident in her, and her abilities. The thought made her smile. 

“What’s the difference in how contracted and freelance huntsmen are paid?” he asks, shutting the book.

“Contracted huntsmen sign contracts, which means they get paid a wage. Freelance huntsmen work on their own, and get paid per mission. They have more freedom in what jobs they can take, which is why most people like freelance work,” Mayumi shoots back. 

“What causes the pay to drop in the summer for freelance workers?” Clover leans forward. 

“Huntsmen graduating! They fill up the mission boards and don’t mind being paid less!” Mayumi exclaims in response. 

“What do people in low income areas do to pay for huntsman?” Clover asks. Mayumi wrinkles her nose, the answer slipping. Clover slowly points to himself. 

“Oh! In Menagerie, you said they paid your parents by letting them eat and stay in the hotels for free.” Mayumi beams proudly, recalling what Clover had explained while reading the textbook with her. 

“Good job. I think you’ll do just fine on the next quiz.” Clover pauses. “Have I given you a tour of my pocket yet?” he asks. Mayumi shakes her head. 

“No. I’ve only seen this room. The…kitchen?” she asks, glancing around the open area. In a room next to them, separated only by a quarter of a wall, there was a couch and a T.V. Clover nods. 

“Yeah, though I’d call this the ‘living area’ since there’s a lot more to it. I also have a bedroom, a garage...even a workshop on the roof,” he offers. 

“Wow...it must be a lot bigger than I thought,” she murmurs. 

“Yeah! It’s pretty big,” he says proudly, standing up with a flourish. He offers a hand and Mayumi takes it, standing up. 

“Come on. I’ll show you around.” Clover keeps hold of her hand, leading her away from the table. She follows, happily catching up with him. Together, they mosey throughout the house with the occasional gesture and explanation from Clover. Mayumi says very little, intent on taking in the details of every room, so that she’ll have a chance of remembering it later. She wonders if she’ll be back, and promises herself that she will. Even if Pixie doesn’t like Clover, Mayumi’s sure that she does, and within her a desire to spend more time with him rises. She clutches his hand tightly.

“Are you okay? That hurts,” Clover says with a laugh. She loosens her grip. 

“Yeah, sorry. Just was thinking about stuff,” she responds. 

“What kind of stuff?”

Mayumi answers with silence. 

“You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want.” Clover pauses, glancing to Mayumi. “Here, the last place to show you is the roof,” he adds. 

Clover goes first, followed by Mayumi. The wood of the ladder is scuffed from frequent use and she has to be careful in order to avoid splinters. In one motion, Clover pushes a trap door open and pulls himself up. Mayumi follows, blinking as her eyes adjust to the light. 

Mayumi feels her heart catch in her throat. The sky was green! A mix of pale tones with deep, leafy hues speckled with tiny stars of white. Well, the milky spots of white only looked like stars, even if she knew that there was no way for them to be. This wasn’t the sky, it was green, not blue. Stars were only in the sky, so these couldn’t be the real deal.

She reaches up, only to find the ceiling out of reach. Clover walks over and gently pushes her hand down. 

“You know, if you let me pick you up...you’d probably be able touch it. Just saying,” he says, shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat in an attempt to appear nonchalant. She turns towards him with a flury, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

“Really?”

“Yeah. Just, be careful, ok?” Clover crouches down. With her initial excitement fading, Mayumi suddenly reconsiders her decision. Pixie would hate her should she find out she was doing such a thing! It is bad enough she was breaking so many rules already. She wags her head and takes a step back, her knees quivering. Clover’s eyes widen and he quickly stands, confusion swimming in his eyes.

“Are you ok?” he asks, kneeling in front of her, his eyes finally able to meet hers. They were a lovely shade of green, matching the walls of his semblance. 

“Pixie wouldn’t want me to do that,” she murmurs, crossing her arms over her chest. Clover tilts his head. 

“Do what? My pocket won’t hurt you, I can promise that.” Clover chuckles nervously, his smile thinly veiling his discomfort. “Besides, Pixie is just your team leader. You can do some stuff just because...you want to,” Clover says. 

“You don’t understand,” Mayumi starts, the words fumbling in her mouth. No one had ever told her  _ not _ to listen to Pixie. Ivan’s rule was that she  _ always  _ had to listen to Pixie, unless he gave her a different order. 

“Well, why don’t you make me understand?” Clover asks, his voice strained with impatience. 

Mayumi feels her stomach drop. She didn’t know how to make him understand. Since coming to Beacon, it had been getting harder and harder for  _ her  _ to understand Pixie’s rules. After all, why couldn’t she be close to Clover? Why couldn’t she touch the pocket’s roof? Why not? Why did Pixie have such...stupid rules! She  _ likes  _ being around Clover. She likes being here! She likes his help, and she likes his company. 

“You do not have to understand,” she finally murmurs, standing up. Her heart slams against her rib cage with such force she fears her ribs will crack. “It’s silly, anyways. Can I touch the ceiling?” she asks eagerly, a hunger in her belly. For the first time that she could remember, she wanted to purposefully break Pixie’s rules, just to spite her. 

Clover blinks in surprise, and crouches low again. Mayumi eagerly climbs onto his shoulders, wrapping an arm over his neck, squeezing. 

“Hey! Be careful,” he chokes out, patting her arm. She quickly loosens her grip, her face flushing at her brashness. 

“S-sorry!” she sputters. Clover stands, hoisting her up with him.

“Ok. Are you high enough?” he asks. 

“Yeah!” Mayumi pauses. “Are you okay? You sure I’m not heavy?” Mayumi asks, glancing down at him, her brows furrowed with concern. 

“Mayumi, I’m a huntsmen who throws giant metal shields, and you, no offense, are tiny. Yes, I am sure that you are not too heavy.” He chuckles. 

Mayumi tears her eyes away from him, stretching her hand out to touch the smooth, green surface. There were no ridges. No cracks, no divots, and it emitted heat as though it were a living body. In fact, she could almost feel it pushing into her palm, like the flank of a breathing animal. 

“It’s like it’s alive,” she murmurs, Clover lowering her back down to the ground. Once she dismounts, he rolls his shoulders. 

“It’s made of my aura, so it’s kind of alive. Hardly sentient, but kinda like a plant. It doesn’t think, but it’s alive.” 

“What happens when your aura breaks? My semblance stops working...does yours die?” she asks, feeling a pang in her heart at the thought of such a thing happening.

“Kinda, it stops working. I can’t get in, but it comes back as soon as my aura does. It’s a lot more like it’s sleeping,” he explains evenly. This comes as a relief to Mayumi. Sleeping was so much better than death. Tearing her gaze from the ceiling, she takes the time to actually look over the roof. To one side of it sat a workbench and a scattered collection of tables. 

“Oh! What’s all that stuff over there?” she asks eagerly. 

“That’s the workshop, that’s actually what I  _ wanted  _ to show you, but you seemed really interested in the ceiling, so I was letting you enjoy that,” Clover explains. 

“Thank you,” she answers sincerely. “I have to get going, but next time I come visit you’ll have to show me your workshop, okay?” she asks. Clover smiles. 

“Sounds great. Remember to bring your textbooks with!” 

At the word “textbooks” Mayumi’s gone, hurrying down the hatch off of the roof.

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

The forest is peaceful today. There’s hardly a breath of wind, and a cool, crispness is in the air. Vira’s quite content with it, the stillness and the quiet. Not a Grimm in sight, only plenty of small critters and fluttering birds dashing through the treetops above her. She’s able to enjoy the company of her team, walking alongside Cerna, and the group they are partnered with. Team Tulip, a collection of young girls the year senior to them. 

“Oh, darling, you just have to try this scent. I know you didn’t like the lemon oils, but this lavender smell is to die for,” a young woman oozes to Narcissa, pulling a bottle from the bag on her shoulders. Narcissa bites back a snarl, glaring daggers at her companion. 

“Oh Peony, my name is Lavender! I don’t think she’d die for me,” A second girl chipped in, giggling at her own joke as she twirls a pale strand of violet hair. “I’m sure you’ll like that smell, you like me, don’t you?” she pleads. Tawyna, the team leader of the group, shoves her way between Peony and Narcissa, tossing harsh looks towards her teammates. Vira laughs. The two girls simply start to chat about their essential oils on their own, swapping scents as if the whole interaction had never happened. It seems as though their memories are just as bad as Vira’s, though she doesn't know what their excuse is. 

“Sorry about them, they’re airheads. I told them not to bring those stupid bottles of oil, but they did it anyways,” Tawyna mutters. Narcissa scoffs. 

“Sounds like a discipline issue, that’s on you,” she shoots back. 

“I know how to discipline my team,” Tawyna responds, her tongue just as sharp. Narcissa falls into silence, and Vira turns to talk to Cerna and Clover instead. 

“It’s really peaceful,” Vira ventures, tilting her head to look up at Cerna. He felt so far away, with his head up so high, nestled on such broad shoulders. Cerna nods, scratching at his beard. An ear flickers. 

“Yes, but that can change quickly,” he responds in a soft, rumbling tone. Vira likes his voice. Even if it comes out as a growl, he speaks with such gentleness that she knows she’s safe around him. 

“That’s ok, with everyone here, we’ll be fine no matter what,” Vira assures him, patting one of his enormous hands. “I trust you’ll keep me safe,” she says brightly, offering her best smile. Cerna blinks, casting a glance her way, only to lock his eyes on the road ahead. 

“I’ll try my best,” he grumbles in response. Vira studies his expression, her heart sinking when she finds that it’s the same as always, thoughtful and collected, not particularly happy. 

“O-oh, yeah, I know you will,” she mumbles, turning away from him. 

“Hey, I’ll protect you too!” Clover adds, and Vira gives him a nervous smile. Clover is easy to talk to, however Cerna’s quite the challenge. She bites her lip, wrinkling her brows to muster up her courage, ready to go at it again. 

“You’re from Mistral, right? So am I! What part are you from?” she says brightly, flashing Cerna another one of her cheery smiles. 

“Northern Mistral,” he murmurs. 

“Northern Mistral...I don’t remember if I’ve been there.” Vira frowns, realizing how stupid it was of her to ask such a question. It’s not like she remembered anything about Mistral, let alone the specific regions. 

“It’s cold,” Cerna starts. “Very cold, my family raised sheep. Do you remember being somewhere with sheep?” he asks, turning towards her. His gaze is gentle, but beyond that she cannot glean anything else. She turns her focus to trying to recall a place with sheep.

Closing her eyes, she thinks hard. Pushing through the fog in her mind is impossible, and all she can see is a dark wall. If she had been somewhere with sheep, the memories were locked away, or not there at all. 

“No, I don’t. I guess I’ve never been there,” she responds cheerfully. For a moment, she sees pity swimming in Cerna’s eyes, but then it’s gone; replaced with that peaceful look of his. She’s grateful for this. To Vira, being pitied stings like a slap to the face. It’s better to make someone happy, to make them smile, than to fill them with pity. Besides, by morning, she’ll forget whatever it is he’s pitying her for, she just knows it. 

“Too bad, it’s a lovely place. You should come visit someday, see my family’s sheep,” he says. Vira smiles hearing him talk. He really did have such a wonderful voice. 

“I would love to! Oh, Narcissa-” Vira stops. No, they won’t be able to go visit Cerna’s family. They have a different mission, don’t they? Vira can’t remember what it is, but she has it written down in her journal back at Beacon. Whatever it is, it probably doesn’t have any room for visiting Cerna. 

“What was that?” Cerna asks, urgency in his voice. “What about her?” Vira shakes her head. 

“Only that she doesn’t like the cold, so I don’t think we’ll be able to go visit. Thank you for the offer,” she says, starting to hum a tune of unknown origins. Cerna falls silent, his gaze growing thoughtful once more. 

Clover hugs himself, mocking a shiver. 

“Understandable. I hate the cold, too. Honestly, I don’t know how you put up with living in such a cold place,” Clover says. Vira turns towards Clover, reaching out and patting his arm. 

“Cerna probably likes the cold, with all the hair he has. You don’t really have any,” she says light-heartedly. 

“It’s not my fault that I can’t grow a beard!” Clover shoots back. Vira’s eyes widen with shock. 

“That’s not what I meant! You look better without one, anyways!” 

“Are you saying I can’t pull it off?” he wails. Vira panics, fumbling over her words. 

“W-well, it’s not like I  _ know _ you can’t pull it off, it’s just, you look so good without one! I don’t think you’d need one! You know, it’s just that-” 

“Beards aren’t for everyone.” Cerna chuckles, patting Clover’s shoulder. “My whole family is full of bearded men, some people just can’t grow ‘em, and that’s ok.”

Clover calms down, though he continues to stroke his chin longingly. 

Vira looks up at Cerna, mouthing a small  _ thank you _ , to which the giant nods, the smallest of smiles tugging at his lips. 

“Can you tell me more about your home?” Vira asks, bounding after him. 

“Other than it being cold and full of sheep farmers? Not really,” he says. 

“Oh...well then, tell me about your family!” she asks cheerfully. “Did you have a mom  _ and  _ a dad, did you have any siblings? Did you have any pets! Besides the sheep, of course,” she asks, her voice full of bubbly joy. Cerna takes a moment to respond, as if he’s mulling over his response. Finally, he opens his mouth and answers in a slow, methodical, way. It’s as though he’s pulling the memories up out of deep water, as a crab fisherman pulls up his traps. 

“I had a mother and a father, and many siblings. There were eight of us.”

“ _ Eight of you? _ ” Clover asks. “I can barely handle the one sister,” he jokes. 

Vira falls silent in shock. She doesn’t have any siblings. It had always been her, Narcissa, Mayumi, and Pixie. They were a lot like sisters, she supposes, though none of them were actually related. 

“Yes, there were eight of us. We ran the farm together, herding sheep and keeping Grimm away. My father and my older brothers taught me how to fight,” he explains, gesturing to his gauntlets. 

“Were all your siblings boys?” Vira asks, tilting her head. If only she had her book! By the time they get back, she’ll forget all this new information about Cerna! How rude would that be. 

“Nearly all of them, I had one sister. She was the youngest of us, and mom’s favorite. Her name was Hilde,” he answers, his eyes shining with joy. Everything about his face seems to lift when he talks of his sister. His cheeks, his lips, and his brows, so that his entire face is painted brighter. 

“Hilde is a pretty name,” Vira remarks, patting Cerna’s arm. He glances down at her, lifting up a great hand and resting it on her head. Carefully, he pats it twice. 

“It is.” He pauses. “So is Vira,” he answers, chuckling. Vira feels her cheeks burn. 

“T-thank you. Cerna is a really pretty name too,” she answers, suddenly realising that Cerna isn’t exactly feminine. What if he didn’t like being called pretty? “I mean, a handsome name. C-cerna’s a very handsome name!” she stutters. He looks away, sneaking a glance towards her. Beneath his beard, she can see that his smile hasn’t faded. She must have done something right, if he was still smiling. 

“I’m glad you think it’s pretty,” he responds in a low grumble. 

“Hey, Narcissa! We’re almost back where we started, I think we can call this perimeter check good!” a shrill voice calls from ahead of them, and Vira glances towards it. Izzy, a spikey-haired girl covered in porcupine quills from team Tulip, is roughly bumping against Narcissa. 

“Yeah, I know that. You don’t need to point out the obvious.” Narcissa has to bite back a snarl. Vira felt her heart twist in pity. This was not the kind of work Narcissa liked. Hanging out with people, having to pretend to be their friend, it isn’t something that comes easily to Narcissa. Without a second glance at Clover and Cerna, Vira catches up with Narcissa, and pushes her way between her and Izzy. Vira reaches out, snagging Narcissa’s hand. 

“That means we’re almost done, right! Then we can go back to the dorm rooms and rest,” Vira assures her partner, patting Narcissa’s pale hand. 

“Aw, does that mean you won’t be coming to hang out with us? We were going to go get something to eat in Vale,” Izzy pouts. 

“It’ll be great, you seem like you don’t get out much,” Peony says in a slow, methodical voice, as though she’s already drifting away from the conversation. 

“Guys, leave them alone. They probably don’t want to put up with all of you,” Tawnya snaps. Narcissa and her exchange glances, Narcissa giving the girl a grateful nod. Vira goes back to rubbing Narcissa’s hand, hoping to soothe her. 

Sure enough, within a few minutes they’re back at the entrance to the village. Not a single Grimm in sight. 

“Well, that was a pretty successful perimeter check,” Tawnya says, reaching her arms over her head in a stretch. 

“I suppose it was.” Narcissa responds through gritted teeth. The red haired woman sits down at the base of a nearby tree and Vira follows suit, finding herself content to watch Narcissa poke at the spools of wire on her wrists. Lavender and Peony approach, only to be met with a sharp glare. This doesn’t stop them from sitting down, pulling out some essential oils, and pestering Narcissa until the airship arrives. 

█║▌│║│║█║█║▌│█║▌│║│║█

No one was going to help her, not in all of Vale, and Mayumi wonders if she even deserves it. She gasps for air, tumbling across the alley way, her back slamming into a nearby wall. Pain spirals up her back, bruises already forming beneath her skin. The urge to engage her aura, heal the wounds, is strong, but she resists. It will not help her cause to anger Pixie further by doing so. 

“Who was it? Clover, was that his name?” Pixie reaches down with a snarl and yanks Mayumi up by her hair, dangling Mayumi inches from her face. Mayumi stays silent, her body shaking. Every inch of skin quivers and her very bones rattle with fear. 

“Answer me!” Pixie shrieks, tossing the young girl to the ground. Mayumi’s body falls limp, sharp stones digging into her skin with a stinging burn. The only answer Mayumi can muster is a tiny shake of her head as she attempts to push herself onto her hands and knees. A boot slams onto the base of her spine, followed by a tugging on her tail. 

Why does Pixie need to know who she had been with? There’s no way she doesn’t recognize Clover’s scent. Can’t she just give Mayumi her punishment, and get this all over with? Clover doesn’t need to be involved at all. 

Her lungs collapse as Pixie raises her boot, and slams it into Mayumi’s ribs. Mayumi curls her tail over her in fear, hugging it tightly as tears sting her eyes. Pleas build in her stomach and die on her tongue, only quiet murmurings escaping. The roots of her hair strain against her scalp and she’s face to face with Pixie’s bright, blue eyes once again. 

“Do I need to throw you again?”

“No.” Mayumi’s lower lip quivers. She can feel the blood running down her shoulders and stomach, hitting the ground with a steady drip. 

“You’d rather me stop, right?” Pixie soothes. “You want me to set you down, you can heal yourself up, we’ll go home to Gabriel and Randy. You want that, right?” Pixie asks, her free hand stroking Mayumi’s darkened cheek. 

Mayumi replies with a tiny nod. A sharp slap is Pixie’s response. 

“Why’d you do it?” Pixie seethes. 

Do what? Talk to Clover? He was her friend, what exactly had she done? In a moment of spite, Mayumi gives a sharp retort. 

“I want to have friends,” she responds. Before she can recognize her mistake, her organs crumble beneath Pixie’s fist and she has to hold back vomit. Bright flashes swim in her vision and she tastes iron in her mouth, thick against her tongue. It tastes vile, and she wants nothing more than to spit the disgusting stuff out. The pain, however, is only second to the distress painted on Pixie’s face. 

Pixie’s gargled cry tears Mayumi’s eardrums and strikes her heart with guilt. There are tears in the pink haired woman's eyes, streaming down her cheeks and dripping onto her dress. 

“Am I not good enough for you? You’re so selfish! Do you even think about what I want? What I need? You’re just going to leave me like that! Go with him?” Pixie shrieks, her fingers tearing at her pink pigtails. Mayumi pushes herself up. Despite her shaking legs, she staggers closer to her partner and reaches up, grasping the woman’s wrists. 

“Please don’t hurt yourself,” Mayumi mutters. The guilty pit in her stomach hurts more than the beating. Pixie was hurting herself again, and Mayumi can’t help but think it’s her fault. “I’m sorry, please don’t do this to yourself. Here, let go of your hair,” she whispers as she chokes back tears. 

Pixie sniffles. Then, in a flourish, she relents and pulls Mayumi into a hug. For a long moment, they hold this embrace without any sound to interrupt it. The pain of Mayumi’s wounds fade to the back of her mind as Pixie’s weight pushes against her, promising her that everything will be okay. It was over. A dull golden light engulfs the young faunus, and slowly her aura begins to heal her wounds. 

“Promise me you won’t talk to him?” Pixie whispers, her fingers running through Mayumi’s ponytail with gentle strokes. “Promise me that I’ll be enough for you?” 

Pixie’s breath washes over Mayumi’s neck and her heart stops. No was not an option, but that word danced on her lips. Pixie squeezes her desperately, as if sensing Mayumi’s trepidation. 

“Y-yes I promise,” Mayumi stutters, terrified to shatter the peace after just achieving it. Pixie’s body tenses, like a snake around its prey. 

She knows Mayumi’s lying. 

“Do you?” she whispers, blue eyes growing cold. Pixie lets go of Mayumi and takes a step back, her hands balling into fists. 

“I do!” Mayumi cries, stumbling back to avoid a strike, her hands flying up to shield her face. “I promise! I really do promise!” she pleads, tears freely flowing and mixing with the dried blood on her cheeks. 

Pixie regards her, then pulls her into another hug. 

“I believe you.”

Guilt sinks its predatory fangs into Mayumi’s heart. 

“Do you know why I believe you?” Pixie whispers. 

“W-why?” Mayumi asks, her voice trembling. 

“Because you’d never lie to me, that would be selfish of you. You aren’t selfish, are you?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Hope you all liked this chapter. Now, I please ask that you reread the tower scene from chapter 14! Relatively major plot-related changes have been made. 
> 
> Otherwise, a reminder to leave a kudo if you like fanfic! Tell me your thoughts in the comment, I love to hear them!


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